The Atlas bear really existed :

Officially, there are no bears in Africa, which is also the subtitle of Babs Murdock's book (there are no bears in Africa). However, from antiquity to the end of the nineteenth century, it has been reported the presence in North Africa of an incongruous bear that has been called "Atlas bear".

Its existence until the historical period has been, and still remains, fiercely debated, even if reputable zoologists more or less admit the past existence of this bear, although it does not have a single body in any museum of the world.