Brown bear

Public domain picture from U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service [full size image]

The brown bear (sometimes called the grizzly in North America) is a species of bear (Ursus arctos) that can reach weights of 300 to 1500 pounds. Their coat ranges from shades of blond, brown, black, or a combination thereof; the long outer guard hairs are often tipped with white or silver giving a grizzled appearance. Brown bears have a large hump of muscle over the shoulders which gives strength to the forelimbs for digging. Their heads are large and round with a concave? facial profile. In spite of their size, they can run at speeds of up to 35 mph.

Once native to Asia, Africa, Europe and North America, brown bears are now extinct in some areas or have had their numbers greatly reduced. They prefer semi-open country, usually in mountainous areas.

The brown bear is primarily nocturnal? and in the summer puts on up to 400 pounds of fat on which it relies to make it through the winter, when it becomes very lethargic. Although they are not true hibernators? and can be woken easily, they like to den up in a protected spot such as a cave, crevice or hollow log during the winter months. Being omnivore?s, they feed on a variety of plants and berries including roots or sprouts and fungi as well as fish, insects and small mammals. Normally a solitary animal, the brown bear congregates alongside streams and rivers during the salmon? spawn. Every other year females produce 1-4 young which are the size of rats, weighing only 1 pound.

Two subspecies of North American brown bear are often recognized. Ursus arctos horribilis, called the grizzly bear, and Ursus arctos middendorffi, called the Kodiak bear.