The extinct brown bear that lived in North Africa was commonly called the Atlas bear.
The Atlas bear, or North African bear, was classified as Ursus arctos crowtheri. It inhabited the Atlas Mountains and nearby regions of Morocco, Algeria, and Tunisia, extending historically toward Libya. It is regarded as the only bear population native to Africa to have survived into modern times.
Descriptions portray it as a stout, brownish-black bear with long fur and reddish-orange coloring on the underparts. Its ecology was probably similar to that of other brown bears: largely omnivorous, eating roots, acorns, nuts, and potentially small mammals or carrion.
Human pressure played a major role in its disappearance. Over-hunting and habitat changes reduced the population, and the last bear traditionally reported as killed by hunters died in Morocco in 1870. That date is debated, however, because some zoologists have questioned the historical evidence and the most recent confirmed fossil remains are older.