Short answers, pulled from the story.
The earliest members of the bear family lived during the late Eocene to early middle Miocene, roughly 38 million years ago in North America. These animals belonged to the extinct subfamily Amphicynodontinae and included species such as Parictis and Allocyon.
Genetic data suggests the giant panda lineage split first around 19 million years ago. This divergence occurred after members of living lineages separated from Ursavus between 15 and 20 million years ago.
Polar bears have hollow, translucent guard hairs that gain heat from the sun and conduct it to dark-colored skin below. They also possess a thick layer of blubber for extra insulation while lacking touch-sensitive whiskers on their muzzle.
More than 12,000 bears are thought to be kept on farms in China Vietnam and South Korea for bile production. Trade in bear products is prohibited under CITES yet bile has been detected in shampoos wine and herbal medicines sold in Canada the United States and Australia.
Teddy bears were named after Theodore Roosevelt when he refused to shoot an American black bear tied to a tree in 1902. The name originated from this specific event involving the former president and the animal.