Brown Bear
The Brown Bear is a large bear distributed across much of northern Eurasia and north America and (with the Polar Bear) it is the largest land-based predator on earth. The Brown Bear is recognized as a national and state animal in several European countries. It is Finland's national animal.
There is little agreement on the classification of the Brown Bear because there are so many ways to name and group them. There are several recognized sub-species within the Brown Bear species. Some systems have proposed as many as 90 sub-species while recent DNA analysis has identified as few as 5 sub-species. One of the sub-species is the Eurasian Brown Bear, Ursus arctos arctos.
The Brown Bear has long, thick fur with a moderately long mane at the back of the neck. It is not always "brown" and colour varies from dark brown (almost black) to cream (almost white) or yellowish brown.
The size of the Brown Bear is variable and the typical size depends upon which population it is from. The Eurasian Brown Bear is typically smaller than other subspecies. Size also varies depending upon sex, age, individual and season. The normal range of physical dimensions for a Brown Bear is a head-and-body length of 4.6 to 9.2 feet and a shoulder height of 28 to 60 inches. Males are larger than females, typically weighing around 30% more. The tail is relatively short, ranging from 2.4 to 8.7 inches in length. Adults generally weigh between 220 and 1,400 pounds. They weigh the least when they emerge from hibernation in the spring and then reach peak weights when preparing for hibernation in the autumn when they often gorge on food.
The Brown Bear has very large and curved claws, those present on the front limbs being longer than those on the hind limbs. They may reach 2.0 to 2.4 inches and sometimes 2.8 to 3.9 inches along the curve. The claws are blunt and, due to their claw structure in addition to their excessive weight, adult Brown Bears can not climb trees unlike the Black Bear. The paws of the Brown Bear are quite large and the rear feet of adults have been found to typically measure 8.3 to 14.2 inches long.
The adult Brown Bear has a massive, heavily built concave skull which is large in proportion to the body and the forehead is high and rises steeply. It has very strong teeth: the incisors are relatively big and the canine teeth are large, the lower ones being strongly curved.
The Brown Bear was once native to much of Asia, the Atlas Mountains of Africa, Europe and north America but it is now extinct in some areas and its population has greatly decreased in other areas. There are approximately 200,000 Brown Bears left in the world. The largest populations are in Russia with 120,000, the USA with 32,500, and Canada with around 25,000. In Europe, there are 14,000 Brown Bears in fragmented populations from Spain in the west to Russia in the east and from Norway, Sweden and Finland in the north to Italy, Romania, Bulgaria, Slovakia, Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia, Montenegro, Macedonia, Albania and Greece in the south. The Brown Bear is extinct in the UK, extremely threatened in France and Spain and in decline over most of central Europe.
The Brown Bear inhabits the broadest range of habitats of any living bear species. It seems to have no altitudinal preferences and it has been recorded from sea level to an elevation of 16,000 feet in the Himalayas. In most of its range, the Brown Bear generally seems to prefer semi-open country with a scattering of vegetation that can allow them a resting spot during the day. However, it has been recorded as inhabiting every variety of northern temperate forest known to occur. In western Eurasia, the Brown Bear inhabits mostly mountainous woodlands, in ranges such as the Alps, the Pyrenees and the Caucasus, although it may have been driven into more wooded, precipitous habitats due to the prior extensive persecution of the species in some regions. Desolate parts of northern and eastern Europe, such as in Scandinavia and the Carpathian Mountains, have always been quite heavily forested and have maintained relatively stable populations of Brown Bears, indicating that it is well-adapted to forest-dwelling.
Although the Brown Bear is primarily nocturnal, it is frequently seen in the early morning and early evening hours. In summer through to autumn, it can double its weight, gaining up to 400 pounds of fat on which it relies to make it through winter when it becomes very lethargic. Although it is not a full hibernator and can be woken easily, the Brown Bear likes to den in a protected spot such as a cave, crevice or hollow log during the winter months.
The Brown Bear is mostly solitary although it may gather in large numbers at major food sources and form social hierarchies based on age and size. Adult male Brown Bears are particularly aggressive and they are avoided by adolescent and sub-adult males. Female bears with cubs rival adult males in aggression and are more intolerant of other bears than single females. Young adolescent males tend to be the least aggressive and they have been observed in non-antagonistic interactions with each other.
The Brown Bear usually occurs over a vast home range although it is not highly territorial. Several adult males often roam freely over the same area without issue unless rights to a fertile female or food sources are being contested. Males always cover a greater area than females each year and they will try to mate with as many females as they can (although females are not monogamous either).
The mating season is from mid-May to early July and Brown Bears remain with the same mate from several days to a couple of weeks. Females mature sexually between the age of 4 and 8 years of age while males first mate about a year later on average when they are large and strong enough to successfully compete with other males for mating rights. Males take no part in raising their cubs and parenting is left entirely to the females. Through the process of delayed implantation, a female's fertilized egg divides and floats freely in the uterus for 6 months. During winter dormancy, the foetus attaches to the uterine wall. The cubs are born 8 weeks later while the mother sleeps. If the mother does not gain enough weight to survive through the winter, the embryo does not implant and it is reabsorbed into the body. The average litter size is 1 to 4 cubs but usually 2 cubs. There have been cases of Brown Bears with as many as 6 cubs. Older females tend to give birth to larger litters. The size of a litter also depends on factors such as geographic location and food supply. At birth, the cubs are blind, toothless, hairless and weigh less than 1 pound. They feed on their mother's milk until spring or even early summer. At this time, the cubs weigh 15 to 20 pounds and have developed enough to follow her and begin to forage for solid food. Cubs remain with their mother from 2 to 4 years, during which time they learn survival techniques such as which foods have the highest nutritional value and where to obtain them, how to hunt, fish, and defend themselves and where to den. The cubs learn by following and imitating their mother's actions during the period they are with her.
The Brown Bear practices infanticide. An adult male Brown Bear may kill the cubs of another Brown Bear, either to make the female sexually receptive or simply for consumption. Cubs flee up a tree when they see a strange male Brown Bear and the mother often successfully defends them even though the male may be twice as heavy as she is.
The Brown Bear is naturally a long-living animal. Wild females have been known to be able to reproduce at as old as 28 years of age. Males can commonly live to 25 years with the oldest female having been recorded as 37 years old. It can live to 48 years of age in captivity. Annual mortality for Brown Bears of any age is estimated at around 10% in most protected areas but in hunted populations an estimated average mortality rate of 38% is given. Human activity, principally legal or illegal hunting, is the leading cause of mortality.
The Brown Bear is one of the most omnivorous animals in the world and it has been recorded as consuming the greatest variety of foods of any bear species. Throughout its life, the Brown Bear is regularly curious about the potential of eating virtually any organism or object that they encounter. Food that is both abundant and easily accessed or caught is preferred. Diet varies enormously throughout their differing areas based on opportunity. The Brown Bear is capable of hunting and catching practically all forms of mammals large and small but despite its reputation it is not highly carnivorous and it can derive up to 90% of its dietary food energy from vegetable matter. It often feeds on a variety of plant life including berries, grasses, flowers, acorns and pine cones as well as fungi such as mushrooms.
This photo was taken during an evening visit with Karhu-Kuusamo
Date: 7th July 2019
Location: Kuntilampi, near Kuusamo, Pohjois-Pohjanmaa, Finland
There is little agreement on the classification of the Brown Bear because there are so many ways to name and group them. There are several recognized sub-species within the Brown Bear species. Some systems have proposed as many as 90 sub-species while recent DNA analysis has identified as few as 5 sub-species. One of the sub-species is the Eurasian Brown Bear, Ursus arctos arctos.
The Brown Bear has long, thick fur with a moderately long mane at the back of the neck. It is not always "brown" and colour varies from dark brown (almost black) to cream (almost white) or yellowish brown.
The size of the Brown Bear is variable and the typical size depends upon which population it is from. The Eurasian Brown Bear is typically smaller than other subspecies. Size also varies depending upon sex, age, individual and season. The normal range of physical dimensions for a Brown Bear is a head-and-body length of 4.6 to 9.2 feet and a shoulder height of 28 to 60 inches. Males are larger than females, typically weighing around 30% more. The tail is relatively short, ranging from 2.4 to 8.7 inches in length. Adults generally weigh between 220 and 1,400 pounds. They weigh the least when they emerge from hibernation in the spring and then reach peak weights when preparing for hibernation in the autumn when they often gorge on food.
The Brown Bear has very large and curved claws, those present on the front limbs being longer than those on the hind limbs. They may reach 2.0 to 2.4 inches and sometimes 2.8 to 3.9 inches along the curve. The claws are blunt and, due to their claw structure in addition to their excessive weight, adult Brown Bears can not climb trees unlike the Black Bear. The paws of the Brown Bear are quite large and the rear feet of adults have been found to typically measure 8.3 to 14.2 inches long.
The adult Brown Bear has a massive, heavily built concave skull which is large in proportion to the body and the forehead is high and rises steeply. It has very strong teeth: the incisors are relatively big and the canine teeth are large, the lower ones being strongly curved.
The Brown Bear was once native to much of Asia, the Atlas Mountains of Africa, Europe and north America but it is now extinct in some areas and its population has greatly decreased in other areas. There are approximately 200,000 Brown Bears left in the world. The largest populations are in Russia with 120,000, the USA with 32,500, and Canada with around 25,000. In Europe, there are 14,000 Brown Bears in fragmented populations from Spain in the west to Russia in the east and from Norway, Sweden and Finland in the north to Italy, Romania, Bulgaria, Slovakia, Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia, Montenegro, Macedonia, Albania and Greece in the south. The Brown Bear is extinct in the UK, extremely threatened in France and Spain and in decline over most of central Europe.
The Brown Bear inhabits the broadest range of habitats of any living bear species. It seems to have no altitudinal preferences and it has been recorded from sea level to an elevation of 16,000 feet in the Himalayas. In most of its range, the Brown Bear generally seems to prefer semi-open country with a scattering of vegetation that can allow them a resting spot during the day. However, it has been recorded as inhabiting every variety of northern temperate forest known to occur. In western Eurasia, the Brown Bear inhabits mostly mountainous woodlands, in ranges such as the Alps, the Pyrenees and the Caucasus, although it may have been driven into more wooded, precipitous habitats due to the prior extensive persecution of the species in some regions. Desolate parts of northern and eastern Europe, such as in Scandinavia and the Carpathian Mountains, have always been quite heavily forested and have maintained relatively stable populations of Brown Bears, indicating that it is well-adapted to forest-dwelling.
Although the Brown Bear is primarily nocturnal, it is frequently seen in the early morning and early evening hours. In summer through to autumn, it can double its weight, gaining up to 400 pounds of fat on which it relies to make it through winter when it becomes very lethargic. Although it is not a full hibernator and can be woken easily, the Brown Bear likes to den in a protected spot such as a cave, crevice or hollow log during the winter months.
The Brown Bear is mostly solitary although it may gather in large numbers at major food sources and form social hierarchies based on age and size. Adult male Brown Bears are particularly aggressive and they are avoided by adolescent and sub-adult males. Female bears with cubs rival adult males in aggression and are more intolerant of other bears than single females. Young adolescent males tend to be the least aggressive and they have been observed in non-antagonistic interactions with each other.
The Brown Bear usually occurs over a vast home range although it is not highly territorial. Several adult males often roam freely over the same area without issue unless rights to a fertile female or food sources are being contested. Males always cover a greater area than females each year and they will try to mate with as many females as they can (although females are not monogamous either).
The mating season is from mid-May to early July and Brown Bears remain with the same mate from several days to a couple of weeks. Females mature sexually between the age of 4 and 8 years of age while males first mate about a year later on average when they are large and strong enough to successfully compete with other males for mating rights. Males take no part in raising their cubs and parenting is left entirely to the females. Through the process of delayed implantation, a female's fertilized egg divides and floats freely in the uterus for 6 months. During winter dormancy, the foetus attaches to the uterine wall. The cubs are born 8 weeks later while the mother sleeps. If the mother does not gain enough weight to survive through the winter, the embryo does not implant and it is reabsorbed into the body. The average litter size is 1 to 4 cubs but usually 2 cubs. There have been cases of Brown Bears with as many as 6 cubs. Older females tend to give birth to larger litters. The size of a litter also depends on factors such as geographic location and food supply. At birth, the cubs are blind, toothless, hairless and weigh less than 1 pound. They feed on their mother's milk until spring or even early summer. At this time, the cubs weigh 15 to 20 pounds and have developed enough to follow her and begin to forage for solid food. Cubs remain with their mother from 2 to 4 years, during which time they learn survival techniques such as which foods have the highest nutritional value and where to obtain them, how to hunt, fish, and defend themselves and where to den. The cubs learn by following and imitating their mother's actions during the period they are with her.
The Brown Bear practices infanticide. An adult male Brown Bear may kill the cubs of another Brown Bear, either to make the female sexually receptive or simply for consumption. Cubs flee up a tree when they see a strange male Brown Bear and the mother often successfully defends them even though the male may be twice as heavy as she is.
The Brown Bear is naturally a long-living animal. Wild females have been known to be able to reproduce at as old as 28 years of age. Males can commonly live to 25 years with the oldest female having been recorded as 37 years old. It can live to 48 years of age in captivity. Annual mortality for Brown Bears of any age is estimated at around 10% in most protected areas but in hunted populations an estimated average mortality rate of 38% is given. Human activity, principally legal or illegal hunting, is the leading cause of mortality.
The Brown Bear is one of the most omnivorous animals in the world and it has been recorded as consuming the greatest variety of foods of any bear species. Throughout its life, the Brown Bear is regularly curious about the potential of eating virtually any organism or object that they encounter. Food that is both abundant and easily accessed or caught is preferred. Diet varies enormously throughout their differing areas based on opportunity. The Brown Bear is capable of hunting and catching practically all forms of mammals large and small but despite its reputation it is not highly carnivorous and it can derive up to 90% of its dietary food energy from vegetable matter. It often feeds on a variety of plant life including berries, grasses, flowers, acorns and pine cones as well as fungi such as mushrooms.
This photo was taken during an evening visit with Karhu-Kuusamo
Date: 7th July 2019
Location: Kuntilampi, near Kuusamo, Pohjois-Pohjanmaa, Finland
|
Also in: North Finland - part 2
 |  |  |  |  |
 |  |  |  |  |
 |  |  |  |  |