What it is
The cave bear (Ursus spelaeus) was a large bear of Europe, bigger than most brown bears, that ate mainly plants and spent its winters in caves. The International Union for Conservation of Nature gives it no category, because its Red List covers extinctions since the year 1500.
Range
Europe, from Spain to the Urals, mostly in hilly country with caves.
What happened
Thousands of cave bear skeletons fill some European caves where the bears died in their winter sleep. Neanderthals and later modern humans also sought out caves to live in, and they used bear bones as tools.
When / status
Extinct about 24,000 years ago.
Human role
Hunting and competition with people for caves are thought to have played a major part in its extinction.