The bear is one of the largest mammals. He is the hero of epics, fairy tales and legends. A brown bear can be seen in a zoo, but to see a grizzly bear you will have to go to the American continent.
That's what they call it subspecies brown bear living in the territory North America. The distribution area of this animal belongs to Alaska and the western regions of Canada. In the United States, the bear is found in the famous Yellowstone Nature Reserve, Montana and northwestern Washington.
In fact, today it is not known for certain what kind of bear should be called a “grizzly”. Most often this is what everyone calls the mainland American race.
Many researchers believe that the grizzly bear, better known as the North American brown bear (its other name), is a separate species living in the interior of the North American continent, as well as on Cape Kodiak.
The very first mention of the grizzly bear dates back to 1784, when the English naturalist Thomas Pennant first wrote about him. Although the scientist himself did not see the animal alive, much less dead, he drew up a description of the grizzly bear, guided by data taken from the traveling records of American pioneers.
In 1806, the American public, while exploring new territories, was presented with two grizzly bear cubs by General Zebulon Pike, which the military man hastened to present to the then-current President Thomas Jefferson.
The grizzly bear was described again as early as 1815 as a "terrible bear".
Since 1967, “grizzly” has been the name given to all large-sized bears living in Alaska.
Characteristics of the animal
In terms of the structure of its body, the grizzly bear is very similar to its East Siberian relative. This bear has a very impressive large size - from 450 kilograms and above. It prefers to live on the coast and mostly feeds on salmon fish. Those individuals that are found in the forest are vegetarians and scavengers.
The size of the animal, the color of its coat and its lifestyle determine the conditions in which it constantly lives.
Relationship with a person
The American pioneers, who described the grizzly bear as a harsh and ferocious animal, constantly thirsting for human blood, clearly embellished their stories, as a result of which people had an erroneous idea about the bear.
A bear will never consider a person as its potential prey, unless this same person openly attacks him, or the animal experiences extreme hunger.
Farmers throughout the 19th century, as well as at the very beginning of the 20th century, actively exterminated the grizzly bear population, thereby trying, according to them, to protect their livestock from attacks. Many animals were killed as trophies.
Currently protected by the US federal government, the grizzly bear lives mostly in national parks.
A brown or common bear is usually called a large-sized predatory animal belonging to the bear family.
In ancient times, the brown bear lived throughout the European continent; it could also be seen in a number of Asian countries (China, Japan).
Today it is found in the Scandinavian countries (Scandinavia, Norway), in the western part of Europe (Pyrenees, Alps, Apennines), in Finland, the Carpathians, Russia, Japan, China, the Korean Peninsula and so on. In Finland, this animal has sacred status.
Today there are about 80 subspecies of this animal, among which the most famous are:
- Apennine.
- Tien Shan.
- Japanese.
- Kodiak.
- Tibetan and so on.
Appearance of a brown bear
Brown bear weight varies from 400 t(smallest specimens) kilogram up to 1000 kilograms(larger animals). Males are always about 1.5 times larger than females.
The bear has a powerful body with a huge muzzle, on which relatively small ears and eyes are located. The animal's tail is small in size, only about 65 - 210 millimeters, so it is not very visible due to the thick fur. The bear has huge, powerful paws with five fingers, at the ends of which there are long (up to 10 centimeters) non-retractable claws. The animal's fur is evenly colored and thick.
The color of a brown bear can vary not only within different parts of its distribution range, but also within the same area of residence. The color of the fur can be light fawn, brown, black, grayish-white.
A bear sheds only once a year, this period lasts from spring to autumn.
Life image
The bear is considered a forest dweller: in Russia it prefers to settle in forests where windbreaks predominate, in Europe - in mountain forests, in North and South America - on the coast and on open area(tundra), as well as in alpine meadows.
What is common between a grizzly bear and a brown bear?
- The grizzly bear is a subspecies of the brown bear; in fact, they are the same animal.
- They eat the same food.
Differences
- Grizzlies live primarily in North America.
- A grizzly bear has white fur on its neck – a collar.
- Grizzly bears have large claws.
- The brown bear, found in Russia, is much smaller than the grizzly bear, which can grow up to three meters in length.
- The grizzly bear is more mobile than its brown counterpart.
Average weight bear various types ranges from 150 kg to one ton.
It is difficult to accuse this dangerous and graceful predator of being overweight: despite not having a model appearance, it is capable of moving at speeds of up to 60 km/h, which is comparable to a horse running at the races! The impressive mass of the bear is also not an obstacle to its acrobatic abilities. The animal easily climbs to a height of up to 30 meters. In order for a person to be at the same height (and this is no less than the ninth floor of a high-rise building) he will need at least professional rock climbing skills and mountaineering equipment. If such data were available, the winner in an athletics competition would obviously not be a human.
Since it is difficult for people to compete with this majestic creature, let’s try to find out which species among bears is the largest, the strongest and endowed with decent intelligence.
How much does a brown bear weigh?
The average weight of a bear of various species ranges from 150 kg to one ton.
The weight of a brown bear depends on the sex of the animal. Females have more modest parameters, their weight ranges from 120 to 150 kg. Representatives of the stronger sex “get better” up to 200-300 kg, although among them there are also males with a more respectable weight of up to 450 kg. For all its heaviness, the brown bear is endowed with a unique quality - it can move through brown and dense bushes absolutely silently. This big beast is quite cautious when it is not hungry and calm,
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He avoids meeting a person in every possible way, unless he has invaded the territory where he gets food. His “accidental” collisions with people are explained by the fact that the brown bear is nearsighted and cannot distinguish a person at a distance of more than fifty meters. To arouse the animal's curiosity, it is enough to simply move; the animal's hearing is very acute.
The brown bear is not a record holder in the heavy weight category. Its taller and larger brother lives closer to the North Pole.
How much does a polar bear weigh?
Female polar bear weighs 200-300 kg, and the male can reach 350-450 kg.
How much does this giant weigh and can it compete with its Siberian and Far Eastern relatives? The physical characteristics of the animal are truly impressive. The length of its body is about three meters. If the animal rises to its full height on its hind legs, then even the tallest basketball player will be below its shoulder. The weight of some individuals reaches half a ton. The average weight is 200-300 kg for females, 350-450 kg for males.
Although the bear is called white, this is not entirely true. The animal's skin is completely black. This is due to the fact that the color of the skin allows one to maintain the necessary thermoregulation of the body, and the color of the coat provides camouflage against the background of polar snows. The animal's hair is completely transparent and sunlight easily penetrates the hair and heats the dark skin of the animal.
The polar bear, like its brown counterpart, not only runs well, but also has serious wrestling skills - the paw span of the animal is more than three meters.
The weight of a grizzly bear can exceed 700 kg.
But even such remarkable strength cannot withstand a grizzly bear.
Not only representatives of the animal world avoid meeting with this giant; it also poses a danger to humans - at one time, the beast was known as a cannibal. Its extremely evil disposition, aggressiveness and the presence of sharp, curved claws up to 13 cm long make it a killer machine. This situation arose due to the fault of man; animals began to be exterminated at the beginning of the twentieth century, as cases of attacks on livestock were observed. Today, the grizzly bear population is negligible and protected.
To find out how much a grizzly bear weighs, you will need to put at least three brown bears on one scale. It may turn out that the advantage will not be in their favor; there is documentary information about when a specimen weighing 726 kg was shot. If such a “guest” decides to pay a visit to a person, he will easily look into the windows of a two-story house if he rises on his hind legs; his height reaches three meters or more. Grizzlies are excellent swimmers, and the myth about slowness and clubfoot gait is based on the fact that when walking, the bear simultaneously steps on two paws located on one side of the body.
People have always been in awe of the greatness and strength of this powerful beast, on coats of arms and heraldic symbols different countries you can see an image of a bear. Interest in studying the habits and lifestyle of an animal is still relevant in our time. Scientists and researchers install sensors and cameras to track the number and habitat of individuals. The devices transmit information about how much the bear weighs and the number of babies born. Preserving these graceful and majestic animals is a difficult and important task, and only man can do it.
Titles: brown bear, grizzly bear, North American brown bear.
In North America it is known as the “grizzly bear” (previously, the brown North American bear was identified as a separate species).
Area: The brown bear was once common throughout Europe, including England and Ireland, in the south its range reached northwest Africa (the Atlas Mountains), and in the east through Siberia and China it reached Japan. It probably came to North America about 40,000 years ago from Asia, through the Bering Isthmus, and spread widely in the western part of the continent from Alaska to northern Mexico.
Now the brown bear has been exterminated in a large part of its former range, and is scarce in other areas. IN Western Europe its scattered populations survive in the Pyrenees, Cantabrian Mountains, Alps and Apennines. The brown bear is quite common in Scandinavia and Finland, and is sometimes found in the forests of Central Europe and the Carpathians. In Asia, it is distributed from Western Asia, Palestine, northern Iraq and Iran to northern China and the Korean Peninsula. In Japan it is found on the island of Hokkaido.
Description: The appearance of this beast is well known. His body is powerful with high withers (hump). This hump is actually a mass of muscles that allow brown bears to dig easily and use their paws as striking force. The head is massive with small ears and eyes. The tail is short - 65-210 mm, barely standing out from the fur. There is a clearly visible depression between the forehead and the bridge of the nose in profile. In a standing animal, the withers are noticeably higher than the croup. Paws are strong, five-fingered, plantigrade. The feet of a brown bear are very wide, the toes are armed with long, powerful, laterally compressed and crescent-shaped non-retractable claws 8-10 cm long, which are much longer on the forelimbs than on the hind limbs.
The coat is long, thick and coarse, often felted and usually evenly colored. Brown bears molt twice - in autumn and spring. Spring molting lasts a long time and is most intense during the rutting period. Autumn molting proceeds slowly and imperceptibly, ending with the period of lying in the den.
The brown bear has 40 teeth.
Color: The color of a brown bear is very variable, not only in different parts of its range, but also within one area. The color of the fur varies from light fawn to bluish and almost black. The most common is the brown form. In Rocky Mountain grizzlies, the hair on the back may be white at the ends, giving the appearance of a gray or grizzled coat. A completely grayish-white color is found in brown bears in the Himalayas, and a pale reddish-brown color is found in Syria. Bear cubs have light markings on their necks and chests, which disappear with age. The bear's paws are black or brownish in color, with wrinkled skin on the pad.
During the rutting period, usually silent animals begin to emit a loud roar.Size: The length of the European brown bear is usually 1.2-2 m with a height at the withers of about 1 m and a weight of 135 to 250 kg. Bears living in middle lane Russia, smaller and weigh only 80-120 kg. The largest sizes are bears with Far East, Kamchatka and especially from Alaska and Kodiak Island, where they are called grizzlies - some giants, standing on their hind legs, reach a height of 2.8-3 m.
Weight: The weight of an adult brown bear ranges from 80-600 kg and, despite intensive hunting, bears weighing up to 750 kg are still found. The largest individuals are found in Alaska and Kamchatka - they weigh 300 kg or more, and giants weighing 600-700 kg have been encountered. The largest bear caught on the island. Kodiak for the Berlin Zoo, weighed 1134 kg. Average weight: males: 135-390 kg, females: 95-205 kg. In autumn, a bear's weight can increase by about 20%.
Lifespan: In nature they live for 20-30 years, in captivity they live for more than 50 years.
Habitat: The brown bear is a forest animal. Its usual habitats in Russia are continuous forests with windbreaks and burnt areas with dense growth of deciduous trees, shrubs and grasses, interspersed with swamps, lawns, and ponds; can enter both the tundra and alpine forests. In Europe it prefers mountain forests; in North America it is more common on open places- in the tundra, in alpine meadows and on the coast.
The range of the brown bear in our country occupies almost the entire forest zone, with the exception of its southern regions. The bear finds shelter under the forest canopy, and open areas serve as feeding grounds. Berry trees, tall grasses, hazel trees - this is what attracts bears, regardless of where they grow - in a dark coniferous forest, in a clearing of a light forest, in a stream valley or in the chars of the Siberian mountains.
Food: The brown bear is omnivorous, but its diet is 3/4 plant-based: berries, acorns, nuts, roots, tubers and grass stems. In years when there is no berry harvest in the northern regions, bears visit oat crops, and in the southern regions - corn crops; in the Far East they feed in cedar forests in the fall.
Its diet also includes insects (ants), worms, lizards, frogs, rodents (mice, marmots, gophers, chipmunks). In summer, insects and their larvae sometimes make up up to 1/3 of a bear’s diet. Large males attack young ungulates - roe deer, fallow deer, deer (caribou, red deer, pampas deer), ibex, wild boar and moose. Some animals, most often males from the northern part of their range, hunt ungulates, hiding them or attacking from ambush. An adult bear is capable of breaking the spine of an elk or horse with one blow of its paw. When hunting ungulates, such bears display amazing strength, agility and tirelessness in pursuing victims.
The bear covers the prey or found carrion with brushwood and stays nearby until it has completely eaten the carcass. If the animal is not very hungry, it often waits several days until the meat becomes softer.
On occasion, brown bears hunt sea otters and seals on coastal haulouts and even go out onto the ice in pursuit of seals. Grizzlies sometimes attack baribal bears.
The brown bear sometimes takes prey from tigers, wolves and pumas. In summer and autumn, Far Eastern bears catch salmon going to spawn. On spawning rivers you can sometimes see 10-30 animals at once.
In years when food is poor, bears sometimes attack livestock and destroy apiaries. In some years, due to the failure of the pine nut harvest in large areas of the Siberian taiga, bears do not have time to fatten up properly in the fall, and in winter they become homeless connecting rods, very dangerous for people who find themselves in their path.
Behavior: The brown bear is active more often at dusk, in the mornings and evenings, but on rainy days it wanders throughout the day. Daytime vigil is typical for bears in the mountains of Siberia. The seasonal cyclicality of life is clearly expressed.
Bears are very sensitive; they navigate the terrain mainly with the help of hearing and smell; their eyesight is weak. Brown bears can smell rotting meat more than 2.5 km away.
Although the bear's body weight is large and it seems clumsy, in fact it is a silent, fast and easy-to-move animal. The bear runs extremely fast - with the agility of a good racer - at a speed of over 55 km/h. He is a good swimmer, can swim 6 km or even more, and willingly swims, especially in hot weather. In his youth, a brown bear climbs trees well, but in old age he does this reluctantly, although it cannot be said that he completely loses this ability. However, it moves in deep snow with difficulty.
When encountering a dangerous opponent, the bear emits a loud roar, stands on its hind legs and tries to knock down the enemy with blows of its front paws or grab him.
In the winter, looking for a den, bears can go far from their summer area.
The brown bear is a sedentary animal and only the young, having separated from the family, wander until they create their own family. Individual hunting ranges are large and males have more than females. The bear marks and defends the boundaries of the areas. In the summer, male bears mark the boundaries of their territory by standing on their hind legs and tearing bark from trees with their claws. Such “border trees” have been used by various animals for decades. In treeless mountains, the bear tears up any suitable objects - clay slopes or tourist tents (usually in the absence of the owners). To secure your tent, the easiest way to mark the boundary of your site is to urinate in several places at a distance of 10-20 meters around the camp. Boundaries are not respected only during the ripening period of oats and on the eve of hibernation.
In the summer, the bear settles down to rest, lying directly on the ground among grass, bushes or in moss, as long as the place is sufficiently secluded and safe.
In autumn, the animal has to take care of a reliable shelter for the winter until mid-spring. 
Depending on climatic and other conditions, bears are in dens from October-November to March-April and later, i.e. approximately 5-6 months. Bears with cubs live the longest in dens, old males live the least. In different areas, winter sleep lasts from 75 to 195 days a year.
For a den, the bear chooses the most reliable, remote and dry corners, somewhere on an island of forest in the middle of a vast moss swamp. The animal sometimes comes here from several tens of kilometers away and, approaching the target, confuses its tracks in every possible way. Sometimes bears have favorite wintering places, and they gather here from the whole neighborhood. So, once in Russia, 12 dens were discovered on an area of about 20 hectares.
Very often, dens are located in holes protected by windbreaks or roots of fallen trees. In some areas, animals dig deep dens in the ground, and in the mountains they occupy caves and rock crevices. Often bears limit themselves to open lying in dense young spruce trees, near a tree or even in an open clearing, having dragged there a bunch of moss and spruce branches in the form big nest. Sometimes a bear makes a den right in a dug-up anthill of red forest ants. Pregnant female bears make deeper, more spacious and warmer dens than males do. The bear lines the finished den with moss, dry grass, pine branches, leaves and hay. Over time, the den is covered with snow from above, so that only a small hole for ventilation remains (the forehead), the edges of which become covered with frost in severe frosts.
A bear is one of the animals that you would hardly want to meet one on one. Its dimensions inspire genuine fear. Surprisingly, at birth some bears weigh less than 200 grams, and this inevitably raises the question of how much an adult bear weighs. It all depends on its type and individual characteristics. The most famous bears are: brown, black, white. Since the brown bear lives in our country, we will dwell on it in more detail.
Distribution area
Previously, the brown bear was found almost throughout Europe, including Ireland and England. The southern border of the range was the African Atlas Mountains, and in the east bears were found even in the territory modern Japan. It most likely entered North America approximately 40 thousand years ago. Then it settled in territories from Alaska to the northern borders of Mexico. Today, the brown bear is widespread in Finland (in this country it was even declared the national animal) and Scandinavia, and is less common in the center of Europe and the Carpathians. In addition, it also lives in Iranian and Iraqi forests, northern China, Palestine, the Korean Peninsula and the Japanese island of Hokkaido. In North America, the brown bear is called the “grizzly” and is more often found in western Canada and Alaska. In Russia, the brown bear lives in almost all forests of the country, except for the southern regions.
Appearance
The animal is strong, with distinct withers on the back. The body cover is thick. The coat color is uniform. As a rule, bears molt in the spring, and their coats are renewed in the fall. The ears are small, the eyes are set deep. The tail is practically invisible under the fur and is only 2 cm long. The paws are quite strong, with curved claws (their length can reach 10 cm).
Weight of a brown bear and its dimensions
The average body length of a brown bear is 1-2 meters. recorded in Kamchatka, the Far East and Alaska. These are real giants: their height in a standing position reaches three meters. In addition to height, many are interested in how much a bear weighs. Body weight depends on the sex and age of the animal. As a rule, the male is larger than the female. The weight of an adult bear (male) is 140-400 kg. But among them there are giant individuals weighing up to 600 kg. The female weighs on average 90-210 kg. A bear with a record body weight was discovered on Kodiak Island. His weight was 1134 kg and his height was about 4 meters. Many people are interested in how much someone living in Russia weighs? In our country there are smaller individuals, their body weight on average is 100 kg. How much does a grizzly bear weigh that lives in America? The grizzly bear is a subspecies of the brown bear; its body weight can reach 500 kg. Individual individuals can weigh 700 kg.
Lifespan
How much does a bear weigh and how long does it live - these are probably the most frequently asked questions. Note that the animal directly depends on its habitat. In the wild it can live 20-35 years. If an animal is kept in a zoo or nature reserve, then it lives twice as long - about 50 years, or even more. Puberty occurs at 6-11 years of age.
Behavior
The brown bear has a developed sense of smell. He can smell meat well even from a great distance. The bear has perfectly developed hearing. He often stands on his hind legs to catch the direction of the flow of smell or listen to a sound that interests him. In the forest he behaves like a real owner: he walks around his property in the early morning or after dusk. In bad weather, it can wander through the forests for hours in search of food.
Lifestyle and nutritional habits
The brown bear is considered a forest animal. In Russia, its favorite places are dense forests with bushes and deciduous trees. Can enter the territory of the tundra and alpine forests. In Europe, it most often lives in the mountains, and in North America, its favorite habitats are alpine meadows, tundra and the coast. The male usually lives alone, and the female with cubs. Each individual occupies a certain territory from 70 to 400 km, while the male requires 7 times more area than the female. Of course, this does not depend on how much the bear weighs. It’s just that a female more often lives with cubs, and it is more difficult for her to travel long distances than for a single male. Bears mark the boundaries of their territory with urine and scratches on trees.
Animals are omnivores. The diet consists of 75% plant foods - these are berries, tubers, grass stems, nuts, roots and acorns. In lean years they can feed on corn and oat fields. The clubfoot's diet may consist of ants, worms, and small rodents (mice, chipmunks, gophers). Although a bear is not a 100% predator, it can kill an elk or a roe deer. It is not uncommon for grizzlies to attack wolves, and in the Far East, bears sometimes hunt tigers. Honey is considered the favorite delicacy of this animal (that’s why it was called that). Fish is a seasonal object of hunting. At the beginning of spawning, when there are still few fish, the bear eats the entire carcass, but when there is a lot of it, it eats only the fat-rich parts (head, milt and caviar). In hungry years, a bear can hunt domestic animals and often visits apiaries, ruining them.
Brown bear activity occurs in the morning and evening hours. Seasonality is inherent in lifestyle. When it gets cold, the bear builds up a subcutaneous layer of fat and lies down in a den to hibernate. At the same time, the average weight of a bear increases by 20%. A den is a dry place under windbreaks or uprooted tree rhizomes. On average, winter sleep lasts about 70-190 days and depends on the climate (October-March, November-April). It turns out that the clubfoot hibernates for about six months. Female bears spend the longest time in hibernation, while older males spend the longest hibernation. It is also interesting to know how much a brown bear weighs after winter sleep. During this time they can lose about 80 kg of weight. If during the summer and autumn the bear did not have time to accumulate sufficient quantity fat - in winter he awakens and begins to wander through the forest in search of food. Such bears are usually called connecting rods. The connecting rods are dangerous and hungry, so they attack everyone, even humans. Most often, they rarely survive until the end of winter: they die from frost, severe hunger, or from a hunter’s bullet.
Despite the fact that the brown bear's weight is impressive and it looks somewhat clumsy, it runs quite fast, swims well and climbs trees well. The paw strike is so powerful that it can break the back of a large bison or bull.
Reproduction
The female bears offspring once every 2-4 years. Estrus occurs at the end of spring - beginning of summer, lasting only 2-4 weeks. During the breeding season, males often fight among themselves, sometimes with fatal results. occurs with several males, the pregnancy is latent, and embryo development will begin only in November. Pregnancy lasts from 6 to 8 months, the birth itself occurs at the place of hibernation - in the den. There are up to 5 cubs in one litter. I wonder how much a bear weighs at birth if it later reaches that size? Cubs weigh 340-680 grams at birth, their length is 25 cm. They are born completely blind and deaf, with almost no hair. Hearing appears only 14 days after birth, and they become sighted after a month. By 3 months they have baby teeth and can eat berries. The mother bear feeds the cubs with milk for up to 30 months. As a rule, the father does not take part in raising the offspring; on the contrary, he may eat the bear cub because he sees it as a potential rival. Cubs begin to live independently without their mother at about 3-4 years of age.
Security
The brown bear is listed in the Red Book. This animal is vulnerable due to the high mortality rate of young animals and slow reproduction. But in Lately the population is growing. According to some data, there are about 200 thousand individuals in the world, 120,000 of which live in Russia, 14,000 in Europe, 32,500 in the USA (most of them in Alaska), 21,500 in Canada. Bear hunting in many countries is limited or completely prohibited.
Grizzly, from the English Grizzly bear or gray bear, is a name referring to one or more American subspecies of the brown bear. This is one of the largest and most dangerous predatory animals currently inhabiting our planet.
Description and appearance
The grizzly is a wild forest animal, simply incredibly large in size and extremely ferocious in nature, which makes it possible to classify it as the most ruthless and bloodthirsty species of predatory animals. The scientific name of the grizzly bear is horribilis, which means “terrible or terrible”.
Appearance
Grizzlies are characterized by a fairly massive physique. Distinctive feature The grizzly bear is represented by long, 15-16-centimeter claws, thanks to which the predator is completely unable to climb trees, but is excellent at hunting its prey. The claws are conical and arched.
This is interesting! Not only adults, but also young individuals are distinguished by very powerful and well-developed jaws, allowing them to hunt fairly large prey.
The structure of the body, as well as appearance such a bear is very similar to a brown bear, but larger and heavier, clumsy and at the same time incredibly strong. Unlike Eurasian bears, North American bears have a characteristic low skull, and also have well-developed nasal bones and a wide, straight forehead.
The tail part is noticeably shorter. While walking, adult bears waddle heavily and characteristically sway their body.
Grizzly Bear Dimensions
The height of the animal standing on its hind legs is about 2.5 meters with a weight of 380-410 kg. The neck part has a very characteristic, powerful hump, which gives the animal incredible strength. With one blow of the front paw, an adult bear is capable of killing even a fairly large wild elk or its smaller or weaker relative.
Important! The largest grizzly bear was recognized as a male who lived in the coastal zone and weighed 680 kg. Its height when rising on its hind legs reached three meters, and its height at the shoulder girdle was one and a half meters.
The closest relatives of the grizzly bear are. The animal's ears have a pronounced rounded shape. Animals that live in coastal areas are much larger than individuals inhabiting the deep mainland. If the average weight of a mainland male is approximately 270-275 kg, then coastal individuals can weigh 400 kg or more.
Skin color
The shoulder part, neck area and belly of the grizzly bear are covered with dark brown thick fur, but at the ends there is a lighter coloring, giving the coat an attractive grayish tint. It is thanks to this shade that the species got its name grizzly, which means “gray or gray-haired.”
Compared to the more common brown bears, the grizzly bear's fur has a more intensive development; it is not only longer, but also much fluffier, so it retains heat well.
Lifespan
The average life expectancy of wild grizzly bears in most cases depends on their habitat and feeding habits. In most cases, a predatory mammal lives no more than a quarter of a century in conditions wildlife, and a little over thirty years when properly kept in captivity.
Where does the grizzly bear live?
The grizzly bear population declined significantly around the end of the nineteenth century, when mass killings of the predator were observed by farmers protecting their livestock from attacks by bears.
Despite the fact that the natural distribution of the grizzly bear has undergone some significant changes over the past century, this predator is still most often found in the western part of North America, as well as in the southern states, ranging from North Dakota or Missouri. In the northern territories, the distribution range reaches British Columbia and Alaska.
Bear lifestyle
Grizzly bears enter winter hibernation every year, which can last about six months. In order to prepare for hibernation, the predatory animal consumes a significant amount of nutritious food, after which it settles into a lair.
This is interesting! Before hibernation, an adult animal gains on average about 180-200 kg of fat.
During hibernation, the animal does not eat and does not at all fulfill its natural needs. Male grizzlies emerge from hibernation around mid-March, and females a little later - in April or May.
Grizzly bear food and prey
Grizzlies usually hunt large or medium-sized mammals. The prey of the predatory bear is often elk, as well as deer and sheep.
A significant part of the diet is represented by fish, including salmon and trout. Among other things, they are eaten by bears wild birds different types and their eggs, as well as various rodents.
The grizzly prefers to use pine nuts, various tubers and berries as plant food. An important part diet The grizzly bear is represented by meat, so the predator can hunt animals such as marmots, ground squirrels, lemmings and voles. Most big catch grizzlies are considered to be bison and elk, as well as the carcasses of whales, sea lions and seals washed up on the coastal zone.
This is interesting! To feast on the honey of wild bees, a grizzly easily knocks over an adult tree, after which it completely destroys the insects’ nest.
About three-quarters of the diet consists of plant foods in the form of blueberries, blackberries, raspberries and cranberries. After the glaciers disappear, bears raid fields with various legumes. In very hungry years, the animal gets close to a person’s home, where livestock can become its prey. Landfills with food waste located near tourist campsites and tent camps can also attract wild animals.
Reproduction and offspring
The mating season of gray bears or grizzlies usually occurs in June. It is at this time that males are able to smell females even at a very long distance, amounting to several kilometers. Grizzlies stay in pairs for no more than ten days, after which they return to the solitary lifestyle already familiar to this species.
This is interesting! Unfortunately, not all cubs manage to survive and grow up. Sometimes babies become very easy prey for hungry adult male grizzlies and other predators.
Gestation by the female takes approximately 250 days, after which two or three cubs are born in January-February. The average weight of a newborn bear cub, as a rule, does not exceed 410-710 g. Grizzly cubs are born not only naked, but also blind, and also completely toothless, so food in the first months is represented exclusively by mother's milk.
The first time the cubs go out into the fresh air from the den is only late spring, around the end of April or beginning of May. It is from this moment that the female begins to gradually accustom her offspring to obtaining food independently.
As cold weather approaches, the mother bear and cubs begin searching for a new, more spacious den. Bear cubs become independent only in the second year of life, when they are already able to get enough food for themselves. Females reach sexual maturity only at three years, and males about a year later. The adult animal leads a solitary lifestyle characteristic of the species, uniting in pairs only during the mating season.
This is interesting! A special feature of the grizzly bear is the ability to interbreed with individuals of ordinary polar bears, as a result of which fertile offspring appear. Such hybrids are called polar grizzlies.
Population and species status
Currently, grizzly bears are protected, so their main habitat is represented by national parks on American territory. A significant number of individuals inhabit Yellowstone and Mount McKinley parks, as well as the Glacier park area, from where grizzly bears spread to other states.
A small population of wild predators remains in continental America, in northwest Washington and Idaho. The total grizzly bear population today is approximately fifty thousand individuals. Once every four years, authorized hunting of this formidable predator is permitted in Alaska.
According to most scientists and renowned zoologists, humans themselves are to blame for a significant portion of all collisions with grizzly bears. In the wild, bears always try to avoid people, so if the rules of behavior are followed, a person does not have the opportunity to encounter such a bloodthirsty predator.
However, we must remember that for all its clubfoot and clumsiness, an adult angry wild animal can run about a hundred meters at the speed of a galloping horse, so it is almost impossible to escape from such a predator.