May 15-21, 2005 is national Bear Awareness Week. This event is being held to educate the public about the integral role that bears play in nature as well as the importance of respecting biological diversity. There are eight species of bears around the world and here in North America we are lucky enough to have three of them: polar bear (Ursus maritimus); grizzly (brown) bear (Ursus arctos); and the American black bear (Ursus americanus). The International Association for Bear Research and Management (IBA) maintains an excellent web site with additional information regarding the other five species of bears from around...