![]() The large adult males (boars) get the first pick, then the sows with cubs. A loose social structure determines which bears get the best fishing spots. Bears in Alaska and Russia flock to the rivers used by salmon swimming upstream to spawn every summer to catch tasty meals.īrown bears live solitary lives once they leave their mother, but the yearly salmon run brings many coastal-dwelling bears together. However, the food that first comes to mind when one thinks of bears is salmon. Bears dig for roots, tubers, and insects, scavenge for carrion, and even occasionally hunt prey such as rodents, young deer, and elk. Most of their diet consists of plant matter, but they certainly eat meat if they can find it. Currently, the largest brown bear populations are in Russia, Alaska, and Canada.īrown bears are true omnivores and eat anything nutritious that they find. This is the largest range of any bear, yet brown bears once roamed a much larger portion of the US, as well as northern Mexico and northern Africa. Their current range includes Europe, parts of Asia, Japan, and western Canada as well as the states of Alaska, Idaho, Montana, Washington, and Wyoming, from sea level to 18,000 feet (5,500 meters). They may be found in forests, mountain areas, tundra, and even semi-desert areas. In fact, the brown bears at the San Diego Zoo stay active year round!īears are the only mammals that do not pee or poop for the entire time they are in their winter sleep! In fact, by studying the way bears recycle urine, doctors have been able to help human patients with kidney failure.īrown bears are more versatile in their choice of habitats than any other bear. Bears in warmer climates spend less of their time curled up in their dens than those in areas with a longer winter. This "winter sleep" allows the bears to stay alive for a long period of time when there is little or no food available to them. ![]() However, the bears' heart rate slows from 70 beats per minute to only 10 beats per minute, their metabolism slows, and they do not urinate or defecate all winter! That's one-third to one-half of their lifetime! This sleep is commonly called hibernation, but unlike true hibernation, the bears' body temperature does not drop drastically. Brown bears can spend four to six months a year curled up deep in sleep, in a den. A den can be a rock cave, a tree hollow, a pile of brush, or a den made by digging into a hillside or under tree roots. When the weather cools, they seek out large, cozy dens for their winter home. They may build a shallow bed on the ground made of leaf litter. Their great front claws make all brown bears powerful diggers. Adult brown bears are not quite as comfortable in trees as their panda, black, sun, and sloth bear relatives, although brown bear cubs are encouraged to climb for safety.īrown bears have a large hump of muscle on top of their shoulders, and grizzly bears have the most distinctive hump of all. It makes them look a little clumsy when they’re walking, but don’t be fooled-bears can move much more quickly than most people realize. Look carefully and you’ll notice that most bears walk pigeon-toed, with their feet turned inward. Get your bearings. All bears have short, thick limbs, a big, heavily built body, and a large head. ![]() There are several brown bear subspecies found in Europe, Asia, and the Middle East, but they are smaller than their North American relatives and their numbers are currently so low that their populations are at critical risk. Brown bears in interior North America are known as grizzly bears because their brown fur is tipped with white or tan the word "grizzly” means "sprinkled or streaked with gray." The Alaskan peninsular brown bear has a much smaller range: just the western tip of the Alaskan peninsula. This is from eating salmon rich in fat every summer. Today, scientists agree that there is only one species of brown bear with a lot of variations (or subspecies).īears found in parts of coastal Alaska are called Kodiak or Alaskan brown bears and tend to be the largest. It was once thought that there were 86 different kinds of grizzlies and brown bears in North America alone. Shades of brown. Brown bears are brown, right? Well, maybe. They come in all sizes and shades, from a light cream color to almost black.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |