Have you ever wondered what it would be like if Cryptids and Mythological creatures were real? What would that be like? How would they affect the environment? How would they be classified? Find out in this encyclopedia that mysteriously appeared fro...
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Animal Class: Mammal
Diet: Omnivorous
A close cousin of the extinct Atlas Bear, Nandi Bears are the only living species of Bear that live in Africa.
Like the Atlas Bear, they are a subspecies of Brown Bear and are around the same size as a Kodiak Bear.
Due to how dangerous and competitive their ecosystem is, with predators as small as Dwarf Mongooses to as large as Nile Crocodiles living alongside them, Nandi Bears are one of the most aggressive species of bear in existence with only Sloth Bears and Polar Bears being considered more dangerous.
Nandi Bears may be Omnivorous, but around 95% of their diet is meat and they will feed on everything from Antelope to Cape Buffalo. However, they almost never go after very large prey like Elephants, Rhinos, and Giraffes.
They are found in almost every country in East Africa with the only exceptions being the island nations of Madagascar, Comoros, Mauritius, and Seychelles( There is some fossil evidence that suggests a dwarf type of Nandi Bear might have lived in Madagascar at some point but this has yet to be proven 100% true). The largest population is found in Kenya whilst the smallest is in Dijibouti.
Like Atlas Bears, Nandi Bears were once heavily hunted. However, when the Atlas Bear went extinct, protections were quickly put into place for the Nandi Bear and they are now considered a Least Concern species.
Unlike most Bears, Nandi Bears are pursuit predators and because of this, they are the fastest type of bear, with a top speed of 45 miles per hour.
A mother Nandi Bear will force her cubs to leave her when they are around 2 years old and when this happens, the cub will usually form a pack that consists of other cubs from the same general area as them that were recently forced to leave their mothers. These packs will last until the Nandi Bears reach maturity at around 5 or 6 years old. This makes Nandi Bears the only type of bear to, albeit temporarily, live in packs.
Extra Fun Fact: Nandi Bears were once rumored to actually be a species of Hyena. However, that rumor was quickly debunked once scientists started studying them.
