The brown bear, a brief description of which we will consider in this article, is a characteristic inhabitant of the taiga-type forests. It can be found practically throughout Russia, especially in Siberia and the Far East. It is found in coniferous, deciduous, and even mixed forests of mountainous regions of different countries, including Central Asia and the Caucasus. So, get acquainted: the owner of the Russian taiga is a brown bear!
Brief Description of the View
A brown or ordinary bear is a predatory mammal representing the bear family. The brown bear is currently the largest land predator in the world. The duration of his life in nature is estimated at 30 years. In captivity, a predator can live up to 50 years. Linguists believe that the name of this beast is composed of two words - “leading” and “honey”. And this is understandable: despite its belonging to predators, the bear is a big lover of sweet honey and generally an omnivorous animal.
Food
The diet of clubfoot on ¾ consists of plant foods. These are various berries, nuts, acorns, rhizomes and tubers of plants. Sometimes these predators even eat grass. In lean years, brown bears, like foxes, encroach on crops of oats in the stage of their milk ripeness and on crops of corn. Animal feed consists of various insects, reptiles, amphibians, small rodents, fish, and, of course, large ungulates. For example, a clumsy giant does not cost anything with one blow of its powerful clawed paw to kill an adult large moose!
Brown bear. Subtype Brief Description
The numerical difference between brown bears is so great that once these animals were classified into independent species. Currently, all brown bears are united in one single species, combining several subspecies or geographical races. So, brown bears include:
- ordinary (Eurasian or European);
- Californian;
- Siberian;
- satin;
- gobian;
- grizzly or mexican;
- Tien Shan;
- Ussuri or Japanese;
- Kodiak
- Tibetan.
Giant heavyweights
As you already understood, the brown bear, which we describe in this article, is the most common clubfoot species in the world. Although it is called brown, it is not always painted in this color. In nature, you can find black, and beige, and yellow, and even fiery red bears. But we will talk about the color of their coat a little later. Now we are interested in their size.
The sizes of these animals vary depending on their gender, age and habitat. But males in any case are larger than females and weigh 30% more. Most brown bears have a height at the withers ranging from 75 to 160 centimeters. The length of the body mainly ranges from 1.6 to 2.9 meters.
The mass of the brown bear depends on its habitat. One of the largest animals are bears that live on the Scandinavian peninsula and, of course, in our country. Their weight is 350 kilograms. Their American relatives living on the west coast of the United States, as well as inhabiting Canada, can sometimes weigh more than 400 kilograms of net weight. Their name is grizzly, or gray.
A brown bear, the size of which is considered impressive around the world, is also found in Kamchatka and Alaska. There, these predators weigh more than 500 kilograms. Described cases of hunting brown bears, allegedly reaching a weight of 1 ton! However, for the most part, these shaggy heavyweights do not exceed 350 kilograms of net weight. The maximum recorded weight, for example, of the Kamchatka bear was 600 kilograms. The animals preserved on the territory of Europe are small in size. Their weight does not exceed 90 kilograms.
Appearance
The brown bear, the dimensions of which we examined above, has a pronounced barrel-shaped and powerful trunk with a high withers (height at the shoulders). Massive and high paws with a flat clawed sole hold this torso. The length of the claws of this shaggy giant ranges from 8 to 12 centimeters. These animals have practically no tail, since its length does not exceed 21 centimeters.
The shape of the head of a brown bear is round. On it are located small blind eyes and small ears. The muzzle is elongated, and the forehead is high. The owner of the Russian taiga is covered with a thick and evenly colored coat. The color of brown bears, as well as their size, is variable. It all depends on the particular habitats of these animals. For example, well-known grizzly bears may have brown coat with a silver tint. For this, by the way, they were nicknamed gray-haired.
Spread
As mentioned earlier, bears are forest dwellers. We repeat that typical habitats, for example, in Russia are solid forests with dense growth of grasses, shrubs and deciduous species. The brown bear, a brief description of which we consider in this article, is found in both tundra and highland forests. In Europe, he prefers mountain forests, and, for example, in North America it can be found in alpine meadows, in coastal forests.
Once upon a time, these animals inhabited the whole of Europe, including Ireland and Great Britain, and in the south of the globe its habitat reached the African satin mountains. In the eastern direction, this type of shaggy heavyweights was distributed through Siberia and China to Japan. Scientists believe that brown bears came to North America from Asia about 40 thousand years ago. They are sure that these animals were able to independently cross the Bering Isthmus, settling in western America from Alaska to Mexico.
Winter sleep
As is known, the physiological criterion for a brown bear is such that these animals hibernate for the winter. They do it in October-December. They come out of hibernation in the spring - in March. In general, the winter sleep of these shaggy heavyweights can last from 2 to 6 months. It all depends on the subspecies of the bear and on external factors. It is curious that in the warmest regions of our planet, subject to an abundant harvest of fruits, berries and nuts, bears do not lie in the den at all.
Preparation for sleep
The clubfoot begins to prepare for its wintering even in the middle of summer. This is a brown bear! The description of his preparation for bed is probably known to many people, because there is nothing secret or surprising in this. Six months before the onset of cold weather, they need to find a suitable place for their winter shelter, equip it and, of course, build up their reserves of subcutaneous fat. Most often, bear dens are located under the wells and eversion, under the roots of huge and massive trees - cedars or firs.
Sometimes these predators dig out "dugouts" directly in the coastal cliffs of the rivers. If during this time the bear did not find a secluded place for his winter refuge, he digs a large hole, and then strengthens its walls with vertically protruding branches. With them, brown bears fill up the inlet, at the same time disguising themselves and isolating themselves from the outside world for several months. Immediately before bedtime, the beast that has accumulated a sufficient amount of subcutaneous fat thoroughly confuses its traces of being near the den.
It is worth noting that the most thorough and practical bear dwellings are considered soil dens. If the predator is lucky, then he will fall into the ground for the whole winter. Such lairs are located deep underground and keep clubfoot warm. Near the entrance to the dirt lair, you can find various trees and shrubs covered with hoarfrost with a yellowish tint. Experienced hunters know that the hot breath of a clubfoot gives such frost color.
Hibernation
Adult animals in most cases spend their cold winter days in their dens alone. Only a bear can hibernate along with last year’s cubs. Scientists who observed the life of these predators (see photo of a brown bear and a description of his lifestyle) noticed that in some areas of the globe where there are no places suitable for wintering, bears use the same shelters several times.
In some places, lairs can generally be located in close proximity to each other, it turns out something like a bearish “apartment building”. If the choice of "winter apartments" is very tight, some especially arrogant bears encroach on other people's homes. For example, an adult male brown bear can, without any pity, expel a weaker relative from the dens that it has liked.
Brown bears sleep curled up. They push their hind legs to their belly, and cover their muzzle with their front legs. By the way, it was this fact that gave rise to many tales and sayings, as if the bears suck their paw in winter. This is not entirely true. Clubfoot, of course, can from time to time, being in one or another phase of sleep, lick their front paws, but this has nothing to do with their sucking.
Caution, connecting rod!
Scientists argue that the bear’s sleep cannot be called strong. During short-term thaws, these predators can wake up and even leave their winter shelters for a while. At this time, clubfoot walk through the winter forest, kneading their bones. As soon as it gets colder again, the furry heavyweights return to their shelter again, noting the traces of their stay outside the den. However, such habits of a brown bear are still flowers!
It also happens that some bears, due to malnutrition in the autumn-winter period, cannot gain the necessary weight, find and equip their homes. In this case, they do not lie in the den at all. Not having time to accumulate the reserves of subcutaneous fat necessary for a comfortable wintering, the beast simply staggers through the snowy forest, as if restless. The people called these poor fellows "connecting rods." A connecting rod bear is a very dangerous and extremely aggressive beast! At this time, it is better not to mess with him at all, since the beast is very hungry, incredibly angry and attacks almost everything that moves.
Breeding
Female brown bears bring offspring 2 to 4 times per year. The mating period usually falls on them in May, June and July. At this time, the males behave aggressively: they begin to roar loudly, serious fights arise between them, sometimes ending in the death of one of the bears. Pregnancy in females lasts from 190 to 200 days. At one time they can bring up to 5 cubs with a body weight of up to 600 grams and a length of up to 23 centimeters.
Progeny
Young growth is born blind, with overgrown auditory canals and covered with short sparse hair. After two weeks, the cubs begin to hear, and after a month - to see. Already 90 days after birth, all of their milk teeth grow in them, and they begin to eat berries, plants and insects. As a rule, males of brown bears are not involved in offspring; raising young animals is the prerogative of females. Cubs become sexually mature by the age of 3, but continue to grow up to 10 years.
