THE SYRIAN BEAR.[143] This animal, a fine specimen of which is in the Zoological Gardens, is the Bear of which we have the oldest historical record. It was an animal of this species that was slain by David during his shepherd’s career; and two females of the same kind are stated to have attacked the mockers of Elisha, and to have killed forty-two of them. The Syrian Bear is found in the mountains of Palestine, and especially in Lebanon; a variety, known as the Indian White Bear,[144] occurs in the Himalayas. It is of a yellowish-brown colour, but this hue varies somewhat according to sex and the season of the year. The claws are smaller than in any of the foregoing species, and, as in the Brown Bear, the diet is usually of a vegetable nature, recourse being had to animal food only in times of necessity. THE SUN BEARS.[145] Under the name of “Sun Bear” are often included two very different species, the Himalayan Bear, Indian Black Bear, or Tibetan Sun Bear (_Ursus tibetanus_), and the Malayan Bear or Bruang (_U. malayanus_). The latter differs in certain comparatively unimportant respects from all the forms we have yet described, and is, therefore, sometimes separated as a distinct genus (_Helarctos_). [Illustration: MALAYAN SUN BEAR.] The Himalayan Bear is found in Nepaul, Assam, Eastern Siberia, and China. It is about the size of the American Bear, and, like it, has close black fur, and a body and head more slender than those of the Brown or Syrian Bear. It is further distinguished by its white chin, by a broad white Y-shaped mark on the chest, and by a collar of longish hairs on the shoulders. The Malayan Bear, called Bruang by the Malays, is found in the Malayan Peninsula, and in the adjacent islands of Borneo, Sumatra, and Java. It is much smaller than the Himalayan Bear, not exceeding four feet and a half in length. The fur is black, becoming brownish on the nose, and the chest is marked with a crescentic white mark, or, in the Bornean variety of the species, by a heart-shaped, orange-coloured patch. The claws are remarkably long. [Illustration: POLAR BEARS. (_See pp._ 174-6.) (_From the Living Specimen in the Zoological Gardens, London._)]