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The ancient bear which roamed the UK thousands of years ago is among the fearsome prehistoric predators whose remains are being conserved by experts in Leeds. Excavated from the depth of an Irish cave in the 1860s, the impressive skull once belonged to a huge type of extinct brown bear and today resides at Leeds Discovery Centre alongside other astonishing megafauna from the Pleistocene era. Curator Clare Brown is shown here with the bear's skull.

The ancient bear which roamed the UK thousands of years ago is among the fearsome prehistoric predators whose remains are being conserved by experts in Leeds. Excavated from the depth of an Irish cave in the 1860s, the impressive skull once belonged to a huge type of extinct brown bear and today resides at Leeds Discovery Centre alongside other astonishing megafauna from the Pleistocene era. Curator Clare Brown is shown here with the bear's skull.

The ancient bear which roamed the UK thousands of years ago is among the fearsome prehistoric predators whose remains are being conserved by experts in Leeds. Excavated from the depth of an Irish cave in the 1860s, the impressive skull once belonged to a huge type of extinct brown bear and today resides at Leeds Discovery Centre alongside other astonishing megafauna from the Pleistocene era. Curator Clare Brown is shown here with the bear's skull.

The ancient bear which roamed the UK thousands of years ago is among the fearsome prehistoric predators whose remains are being conserved by experts in Leeds. Excavated from the depth of an Irish cave in the 1860s, the impressive skull once belonged to a huge type of extinct brown bear and today resides at Leeds Discovery Centre alongside other astonishing megafauna from the Pleistocene era. Curator Clare Brown is shown here with the bear's skull.

The ancient bear which roamed the UK thousands of years ago is among the fearsome prehistoric predators whose remains are being conserved by experts in Leeds. Excavated from the depth of an Irish cave in the 1860s, the impressive skull once belonged to a huge type of extinct brown bear and today resides at Leeds Discovery Centre alongside other astonishing megafauna from the Pleistocene era. Curator Clare Brown is shown here with the bear's skull.

The ancient bear which roamed the UK thousands of years ago is among the fearsome prehistoric predators whose remains are being conserved by experts in Leeds. Excavated from the depth of an Irish cave in the 1860s, the impressive skull once belonged to a huge type of extinct brown bear and today resides at Leeds Discovery Centre alongside other astonishing megafauna from the Pleistocene era. Curator Clare Brown is shown here with the bear's skull.

Alongside the bear skull, the collection includes the tooth of a wolf found in Torquay’s famous Kents Cavern, once home to a number of prehistoric mammal species as well as Neanderthal humans. Curator Clare Brown is shown here with the tooth.

An even older example of a one-time UK predator which also forms part of the collection is the gigantic tooth of a megalodon, the largest shark which ever lived and which swam in waters around the UK around 23 million to 3.58 million years ago. Megalodon is believed to have grown to up to 80 feet in length. Curator Clare Brown is shown here with the tooth.

An even older example of a one-time UK predator which also forms part of the collection is the gigantic tooth of a megalodon, the largest shark which ever lived and which swam in waters around the UK around 23 million to 3.58 million years ago. Megalodon is believed to have grown to up to 80 feet in length. Curator Clare Brown is shown here with the tooth.

Also preserved in Leeds are the teeth and jawbone of an ancient cave hyena, discovered in Kirkdale Cave in North Yorkshire. Cave hyenas were once apex predators in countries all over Europe, hunting and feeding on other large mammals including deer and wild horses. Curator Clare Brown is shown here with the hyena jawbone.

Smokers in Leeds are urged to quit for Stoptober. Pictured, from left, Anna Frearson, chief officer and consultant in public health at Leeds City Council, Daniel Peacock, stop smoking advisor at Leeds Stop Smoking Services, and Laura Overfield, advanced health improvement specialist at Leeds City Council.