Digital painting of a grizzly bear sitting on a mossy log against a gray background.

My current idea involves a new branch to the Ursidae family, so related to bears but lighter in form with the ability to easily climb and jump. It’s paws would be dexterous enough to open containers instead of just tearing them, like a raccoon. It would be medium sized at around 200lbs, big enough to catch large prey but not too big to climb easily. The animal would ancestrally have been an ambush hunter of white tailed deer but in modern times found a niche in raiding campsites and dragging away sleeping campers. Its paws are able to unzip a tent and it can quickly retreat into the trees after grabbing prey. The animal is nocturnal and sleeps during the day in a den dug in the side of a hill, often in the hollow left by a fallen tree. The animal is intelligent and covers its den with fresh branches each day. Its eyes are well adapted to the dark and very sensitive to light, flashing a bright light will temporally blind it. See more