Bear, Brown (Grizzley, Kodiak)

Physical Features

The Brown Bear is also known as the Grizzly Bear or the Kodiak. They are among the largest of all living bears, being comparable in size to polar bears. Its distinct features are is large size, brown coat, humped back and powerful long claws. Brown Bears have large snouts but small ears. Brown Bears vary in size and color from region to region. The frosted, or grizzled, coats of bears living in the American west earned these animals the name 'grizzly.' In some other areas, brown bears have whitish or blackish coats. Male Brown Bears grow larger than females. On all four legs, a Brown Bear stands up to five feet tall, but when it stands on its hind legs a large individual towers up to nine feet tall. They weigh between 300 to 780 kilograms (660 to1,700 lb) and are they the largest land-based predator. Brown Bears grow from six and a half to nine feet long. Brown Bears are distinguished from Black Bears by their humped shoulders, more upturned snouts, longer fur, and longer claws.

Habitat

Brown Bears live in a wide variety of open, or semi-open, northern habitats, including grasslands, along rivers, coastlines, tundra, and mountain and lowland forests. Brown Bears live in mountains and grassy wilderness in North America, Europe, and Asia. However, their range has been greatly reduced. The largest populations remain in Alaska, Canada, and Russia. Small populations hang on in Austria, Finland, France, Italy, Norway, Spain, Sweden, Syria, northern India (in the Himalaya), and other countries. The Brown Bear is the most widely distributed of all bears.

Diet

Brown Bears are omnivores and their diet varies according to their habitat. They primarily eat vegetation, including tubers (underground stems and roots), berries, and pine nuts, but they also eat moths, grubs, rodents (dug out of their burrows), carrion, and occasionally the young of large animals such as horses, bison, and moose and other deer. Seasonally, salmon or trout are important foods and it uses its long powerful claws to catch these fish.

Meat

Brown Bear meat is very greasy and coarse textured. The flavor of the meat varies according to its diet and the age of the Bear. The meat of younger Bears and those that eat berries have a sweeter taste than those feeding on fish, which can give the meat a fishy flavor. Bear meat should be thoroughly cooked as it can carry a parasitic infection known as trichinella, a potentially dangerous disease to humans. Bear fat has historically been used as cooking oil by both American settlers and Native Americans. Bear fat can also be used as lamp fuel, while some Native American tribes used bear fat as a form of medicine and even Covered themselves in bear fat as a way of protecting themselves from the cold.

Behavior

Brown Bears wander widely for food, living solitary lives, except for mothers raising their young. During cold months, from October or December through March or May depending on location and weather, Brown Bears sleep in dens inside caves, dugout hollows, or dead trees. They emerge in warm weather. Brown Bears rely upon scent more than hearing or sight to survey their surroundings. Females reach maturity between four and ten years old, and average about two cubs every four years. Male and female Brown Bears mate in late spring or early summer. The mother usually gives birth to 2 cubs after a 180-266 day gestation period. The cubs are blind and furless and weigh a pound when they are born. The cubs are weaned when they are about five months old, but they usually remain with their mother for two to three years. Brown Bear cubs can climb trees until they are about a year old. Brown Bear populations cannot easily bounce back from losses because they breed slowly. Brown Bears live up to 30 years in the wild, and close to 50 years in captivity.

You must select a state from the menu above to view regulations.