Cave Bear - Ursus uralensis

The Cave Bear was a species of bear which lived in Europe during the Pleistocene and became extinct at the beginning of the Last Glacial Maximum about 27,500 years ago. In Romania, there is a cave called Pe_tera Ur_ilor (Bears' Cave) where 140 cave bear skeletons were discovered in 1983.

The cave bear's range stretched across Europe; from Spain to Eurasia, from Italy and Greece to Belgium, the Netherlands and possibly Great Britain, across a portion of Germany through Poland, then south into Hungary, Romania and parts of Russia.

Death during hibernation was a common end for cave bears. While Cave Bears longevity is unknown, it has been estimated that they seldom exceeded 20 years of age. Paleontologists doubt adult cave bears had any natural predators, save for pack-hunting wolves and cave hyenas which would probably have attacked sick or infirm animals. Cave hyenas are thought to be responsible for the disarticulation and destruction of some cave bear skeletons. Such large carcasses were an optimal food resource for the hyenas, especially at the end of the winter, when food was scarce.

Recent reassessment of fossils, indicate the cave bear probably died out 27,800 years ago. Though the reason is still disputed, the timing supports habitat loss due to climate change as responsible. Certain experts dispute this claim, as the cave bears had already survived multiple periods of climate change. Overhunting by humans has been largely dismissed because human populations at the time were too small to pose a serious threat to the cave bear's survival, though there is proof that the two species may have competed for living space in caves.

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