Brown Bears are omnivorous mammals.
Other Names: Grizzly, Grizzly
Bear, Kodiak, Kodiak Bear, Russian
Brown Bear, Honey Eater, Alaskan Bear,
Alaskan Brown Bear, Asiatic Bear,
European Bear, Himalayan Bear, Silvertip
Bear, Kamchatka Brown Bear, Far Eastern
Brown Bear, California Golden Bear,
Atlas Bear, Amur Brown Bear, Tibetan
Blue Bear, Mexican Grizzly Bear, Eastern
Siberian Brown Bear, and Syrian Bear
Size: Brown bears weigh from
660 to 1,700 lbs. The largest sub-species
of brown bears is the Kodiak bear
which rivals the polar bear as the
largest land-based predator. Grizzly
bears in the Yukon, a sub-species
of the brown bear can weigh as little
as 350 lbs. A brown bear, from coastal
Alaska and Russia can weigh 1,500
lbs. Brown bears are 5-8 feet tall.
Habitat: Brown bears are
found in Northern Eurasia and North
America. The brown bear is the most
widely distributed of all bears. Brown
bears were once native to Asia, the
Atlas Mountains in Africa, Europe,
and North America, but they are now
extinct in some regions, and their
populations have decreased in some
of the regions. Brown bears prefer
semi-open country, usually in a mountainous
region. Brown bears prefer a wilderness
region that contains river valleys,
mountain forests, and open meadows.
The Kodiak bear a brown bear sub-species
is found exclusively on Kodiak Island.
Sub-species: There are estimates
that there as many as 90 sub-species
of brown bear.
Brown Bear Sub-Species
Atlas Bear - Ursus arctos
Carpathian Bear - Ursus arctos
Gobi Bear - Ursus arctos gobiensis
Grizzly Bear - Ursus arctos
European Brown Bear - Ursus
Himalayan Brown Bear - Ursus
Hokkaido Brown Bear - Ursus
Kodiak Bear - Ursus arctos
Marsican Bear - Ursus arctos
Mexican Grizzly Bear - Ursus
Siberian Brown Bear - Ursus
Syrian Brown Bear - Ursus
Tibetan Blue Bear - Ursus
Territories: Brown bears are
territorial and frequent their "range".
A female brown bear requires 50 to
300 square miles of home range, while
male brown bears need about 200 to
500 square miles.
Diet: Brown bears are omnivorous
and are opportunistic feeders. Brown
bears eat fish (in particular salmon),
grasses, sedges, skunk cabbage, nuts,
berries, fruit, leaves and roots.
Bears also eat other animals, from
rodents to moose. Brown bears will
eat up to 90 lbs of food each day,
they will often weigh twice as much
before hibernation as they will in
Behavior: Brown bears dig dens for
winter hibernation, often holing up in a
suitable hillside. Females, or she-bears,
den while pregnant and give birth during
this winter rest, usually to a pair of cubs.
Brown bears are not true hibernators, but
they do slow down their metabolism and sleep
through most of the winter. This allows
the brown bear to save energy, when there
is little food available outside for them
to eat. This is called a state of torpor.
Brown bears are able to sleep through the
winter by living on reserves of fat stored
on their bodies during the summer and fall,
but they do wake up on occasion through
the winter, and they may even emerge from
Description: Though called "brown",
brown bears are not always brown. Brown
bears can be almost any color, they range
from mostly white to blonde to pure black
and many color phases in between, depending
on their age, sex and season. Grizzlies
will often have a "silver-tipped"
appearance to their fur. The brown bear
has a concave face, high-humped shoulders,
and long, curved claws, that are 2-4 inches
long. Brown bears have coarse, protective,
guard hairs and soft underfur, that acts
as insulation and keeps them warm in the
Birth: Brown bears give birth
to cubs that are typically one pound
at birth. Brown bears are 23-28 centimeters
in length at birth. The brown bears
litter size ranges from one and five
cubs, with two on average. Survival
rates for brown bear cubs are low.
Did You Know?
bears take no part in raising
their cubs – parenting is
left entirely to the females.
Gestation: A brown bear carries
its young from 180 and 266 days.
Cubs: Brown bear cubs will stay
with their mother for up to 2-2.5 years.
Brown bear cubs are born blind and helpless.
Sexual Maturity: Female brown bears
mature from between 5-7 years of age. Male
brown years do not sexually reproduce until
8-10 years of age. Brown bears are serially
monogamous, they will remain with the same
mate from several days to a couple of weeks.
Brown bears females only reproduce once
every three years.
Life Span:The average life span
of brown bear is 25 years of age. Habitat
degradation and new roads, ranching, overhunting
and increasing human encroachments can eventually
eliminate the brown bear species.
Social Structure: Brown bears are
solitary animals, except for females
and their cubs, it is rare that they
congregate. Typically when they congregate
it is to fish at a river's edge when
the salmon swim upstream for summer
Did You Know?
The brown bear is primarily
Athleticism: Although large brown
bears can travel at speeds of up to 30 miles
per hour. If a human comes between a mother
and her cubs they will respond aggressively.
Unusual: Brown bears are more aggressive
than other bear species.