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{{Short description|Large bear native to Eurasia and North America}}
{{about|the animal|the athletics teams at Brown University|Brown Bears}}
{{about|the animal|the athletics teams at Brown University|Brown Bears|the research ship|MV Brown Bear}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=February 2015}}
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{{Taxobox
{{Good article}}
| name = Brown bear
{{Use dmy dates|date=September 2020}}
| fossil_range = {{Fossil range|0.5|0}}<small>Middle ] – Recent</small>
{{Speciesbox
| fossil_range = {{Fossil range|0.5|0}}<small>Middle ]-]</small>
| image = 2010-kodiak-bear-1.jpg
| image_caption = ] on ]
| status = LC | status = LC
| status_system = IUCN3.1 | status_system = IUCN3.1
| status_ref=<ref name=IUCN>{{IUCN2013.1|assessors=McLellan, B. N., Servheen, C. & Huber, D.|year=2008|id=41688|title=Ursus arctos|downloaded=2013-10-05}}</ref> | status_ref = <ref name="iucn status 19 November 2021">{{cite iucn |author=McLellan, B. N. |author2=Proctor, M. F. |author3=Huber, D. |author4=Michel, S. |date=2017 |title=''Ursus arctos'' |volume=2017 |page=e.T41688A121229971 |doi=10.2305/IUCN.UK.2017-3.RLTS.T41688A121229971.en |access-date=19 November 2021}}</ref>
| status2 = CITES_A2
| image = Brown bear.jpg
| status2_system = CITES
| image_caption = Brown bear (''U. arctos'') in Hallo Bay, ], ]
| status2_ref = <ref>{{Cite web|title=Appendices {{!}} CITES|url=https://cites.org/eng/app/appendices.php|access-date=2022-01-14|website=cites.org|archive-date=5 December 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171205014647/https://cites.org/eng/app/appendices.php|url-status=live}}</ref>{{NoteTag|Populations of Bhutan, China, Mexico and Mongolia are included in Appendix I. All other populations are included in Appendix
| regnum = ]ia
II.}}
| phylum = ]
| classis = ]ia | genus = Ursus
| species = arctos
| ordo = ]
| authority = ], 1758
| familia = ]
| subdivision_ranks = Subspecies
| genus = '']''
| subdivision = 15, see ] and ]
| species = '''''U. arctos'''''
| binomial = ''Ursus arctos''
| binomial_authority = ], ]
| subdivision_ranks = ]
| subdivision = 16, see ]
| range_map = Ursus arctos range map.svg | range_map = Ursus arctos range map.svg
| range_map_caption = Brown bear range map | range_map_caption = Brown bear range map
}} }}
The '''brown bear''' (''Ursus arctos'') is a large ] distributed across much of northern ] and ] and (with the ]) is the largest land-based predator on earth.<ref name="boddington">{{cite book | title = Fair Chase in North America | author = Boddington, Craig; illustrations by Carlson, Ken | publisher = ] | year = 2004 | isbn = 0-940864-47-9| page = 45 | url = http://books.google.com/?id=Rri8xdwgdQ0C&pg=PA45}}</ref>
There are several recognized subspecies within the brown bear species.


The '''brown bear''' ('''''Ursus arctos''''') is a large ] native to ] and ]. Of the land ]ns, it is rivaled in size only by its closest relative, the ], which is much less variable in size and slightly bigger on average. The brown bear is a ] species, as adult males are larger and more compactly built than females. The ] ranges in color from cream to reddish to dark brown. It has evolved large hump muscles, unique among bears, and paws up to {{cvt|21|cm}} wide and {{cvt|36|cm}} long, to effectively dig through dirt. Its teeth are similar to those of other bears and reflect its ].
While the brown bear's range has shrunk and it has faced local extinctions, it remains listed as a ] species by the ] with a total population of approximately 200,000. As of 2012, this and the ] are the only bear species not classified as threatened by the IUCN. However, the ], ], and ] subspecies were hunted to extinction in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, and many of the southern Asian subspecies are highly endangered. The smallest subspecies, the ], is critically endangered, occupying only 2% of its former range and threatened by uncontrolled poaching for its parts.<ref> 01-06-2014</ref> The ] in central ] is believed to have a population of just 30 to 40 bears.


Throughout the brown bear's range, it inhabits mainly ] in elevations of up to {{cvt|5000|m}}. It is ], and consumes a variety of plant and animal species. Contrary to popular belief, the brown bear derives 90% of its diet from plants. When hunting, it will target animals as small as ] and ] to those as large as ] or ]. In parts of coastal ], brown bears predominantly feed on ] ] that come near shore to lay their eggs. For most of the year, it is a usually ] that associates only when ] or raising cubs. Females give birth to an average of one to three cubs that remain with their mother for 1.5 to 4.5 years. It is a long-lived animal, with an average lifespan of 25 years in the wild. Relative to its body size, the brown bear has an exceptionally large brain. This large brain allows for high cognitive abilities, such as ]. ], though widely reported, are generally rare.
The brown bear's principal range includes parts of ], ], ], ], the ] (mostly ]), ] and the ] region (especially ]),<ref name="White">{{cite web|last=White|first=Paul|title=Brown Bear|url=http://www.transylvanianwildlifeproject.com/p/brown-bear.html|publisher=Transylvania Wildlife Project|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20130519162400/http://www.transylvanianwildlifeproject.com/p/brown-bear.html|archivedate=19 May 2013|accessdate=13 January 2014}}</ref> The brown bear is recognized as a national and state animal in several European countries. It is the most widely distributed of all bears.


While the brown bear's range has shrunk, and it has faced local extinctions across its wide range, it remains listed as a ] species by the ] (IUCN) with a total estimated population in 2017 of 110,000. Populations that were hunted to extinction in the 19th and 20th centuries are the ] of ] and the ], ] and ] populations of the grizzly bear of North America. Many of the populations in the southern parts of Eurasia are highly endangered as well. One of the smaller-bodied forms, the ], is critically endangered: it occupies only 2% of its former range and is threatened by uncontrolled poaching for its body parts. The ] of central Italy is one of several currently isolated populations of the ] and is believed to have a population of only about 50 bears.
==Evolution and Taxonomy==
The brown bear is sometimes referred to as the ''bruin'', from ]. This name originated in the fable, ''History of ]'', translated by ], from ] ''bruun'' or ''bruyn'', meaning '']'' (the color).<ref>American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language: Fourth Edition. 2000.</ref> During the ], the grizzly was termed "Old Ephraim" and sometimes as "Moccasin Joe".<ref name="rooseeltv">. FullTextArchive.com. Retrieved 15 September 2011.</ref>
The scientific name of the brown bear, ''Ursus arctos'', comes from the Latin "]", meaning "bear",<ref>Liddell, Henry George and Scott, Robert. ''A Latin Dictionary''. Perseus Digital Library.</ref> and Άρκτος "arctos", from the Greek word for bear.<ref>Liddell, Henry George and Scott, Robert. ''A Greek-English Lexicon''. Perseus Digital Library.</ref>


The brown bear is considered to be one of the most popular of the world's ]. It has been kept in ]s since ancient times, and has been ] and trained to perform in ]es and other acts. For thousands of years, the brown bear has had a role in ], and is often featured in ], ], ], and ].
There have been two ways that people have grouped brown bears, (1) by naming them by the region that they inhabit, and there are hundreds of brown bear names from this process. (2) Scientific ] is the science of defining groups of biological organisms on the basis of shared characteristics and giving names to those groups. Both are valid ways to name bears.


==Etymology==
===Generalized brown bear names and evolution===
The brown bear is sometimes referred to as the {{lang|enm|bruin}}, from ]. This name originated in the fable ''History of ]'', translated by ], from the ] word {{lang|dum|bruun}} or {{lang|dum|bruyn}}, meaning "brown".<ref>{{OEtymD|bruin}}</ref><ref> {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220920163326/https://www.britannica.com/topic/Bruin |date=20 September 2022 }}, ''Encyclopaedia Britannica''</ref> In the mid-19th-century United States, the brown bear was given the nicknames "Old Ephraim" and "Moccasin Joe".<ref name="rooseeltv"> {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170906135409/http://www.fulltextarchive.com/page/Hunting-the-Grisly-and-Other-Sketches1/#p58 |date=6 September 2017 }}. FullTextArchive.com. Retrieved 15 September 2011.</ref>


The scientific name of the brown bear, ''Ursus arctos'', comes from the Latin {{lang|la|]}}, meaning "bear",<ref>Liddell, Henry George and Scott, Robert. {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210301200216/http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.04.0059%3Aentry%3Dursus |date=1 March 2021 }} ''A Latin Dictionary''. Perseus Digital Library.</ref> and the Greek {{lang|grc|ἄρκτος}}/{{transliteration|grc|arktos}}, also meaning "bear".<ref>Liddell, Henry George and Scott, Robert. {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230630102051/http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.04.0057%3Aentry%3D%2315199&redirect=true |date=30 June 2023 }} ''A Greek-English Lexicon''. Perseus Digital Library.</ref>
Brown bears are thought to have evolved from '']'' in Asia.<ref name="evolution"/> The brown bear Kurten believed to be "clearly derived from the Asian population of ''Ursus savini'' about 800,000 years ago; spread into Europe, to the New World."<ref name="Kurten 1976">{{cite book|last1=Kurten.|first1=Bjorn|title=The Cave Bear Story 1976|publisher=Columbia University Press|location=New York.|accessdate=19 March 2015}}</ref> The oldest fossils occur in China from about 0.5 ].<ref name="evolution"/> They entered Europe about 250,000 years ago, and North Africa shortly after.<ref name="evolution"/> Brown bear remains from the Pleistocene period are common in the ], where it is thought they might have outcompeted ]s.<ref name="evolution"/> The species entered Alaska 100,000 years ago, though they did not move south until 13,000 years ago.<ref name="evolution"/> It is speculated that brown bears were unable to migrate south until the extinction of the much larger '']''.<ref name="geist"/>


==Evolution and taxonomy==
Several paleontologists suggest the possibility of two separate brown bear migrations: grizzlies are thought to stem from narrow-skulled bears which migrated from northern Siberia to central Alaska and the rest of the continent, while Kodiak bears descend from broad-skulled bears from Kamchatka, which colonized the Alaskan peninsula.<ref name="evolution"/> Brown bear fossils discovered in Ontario, Ohio, Kentucky and Labrador show the species occurred farther east than indicated in historic records.<ref name="evolution">Bruce McLellan and David C. Reiner (1994). Int. Conf. Bear Res. and Manage. 9(1):85–96</ref>


===Scientific brown bear taxonomy=== ===Taxonomy and subspecies===
{{main|Subspecies of brown bear}}
], the ]|alt=A bear in a wooded area|left]]


] scientifically described the species under the name ''Ursus arctos'' in the 1758 edition of '']''.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Linnaeus |first=Carl |chapter-url=https://gdz.sub.uni-goettingen.de/id/PPN362053006?tify=%7B%22pages%22:%5B51%5D,%22pan%22:%7B%22x%22:0.524,%22y%22:0.878%7D,%22view%22:%22scan%22,%22zoom%22:0.831%7D |title=Caroli Linnæi ó. Systema naturæ per regna tria naturæ, secundum classses, ordines, genera, species, cum characteribus, differentiis, synonymis, locis |year=1758 |page=47|location=Stockholm|publisher=Lars Salvius|language=la|chapter=''Ursus arctos''}}</ref> Brown bear taxonomy and subspecies classification has been described as "formidable and confusing", with few authorities listing the same set of subspecies.<ref>{{citation |last1=Wilson |first1=D. E. |last2=Ruff |first2=S. |year=1999 |title=The Smithsonian Book of North American Mammals |publisher=] |location=Washington, D.C.|pages=160–201}}</ref> There are hundreds of obsolete brown-bear subspecies. As many as 90 subspecies have been proposed.<ref name=Harris>{{cite news|last1=Harris|first1=Arthur H.|url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/236842872|title=Pleistocene Vertebrates of Arizona, New Mexico, and Trans-Pecos Texas|date=2013|publisher=UTEP Biodiversity Collections, University of Texas at El Paso}}</ref><ref name=Storer1955>{{cite book |last1=Storer |first1=T. I. |last2=Tevis |first2=L. P. |title=California Grizzly |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=1QVZFQu01KcC&pg=PA149 |url-access=registration |year=1996 |publisher=] |location=] |isbn=978-0-520-20520-8 |pages=, 42–187 |access-date=18 November 2019 |archive-date=2 February 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240202162031/https://books.google.com/books?id=1QVZFQu01KcC&pg=PA149#v=onepage&q&f=false |url-status=live }} </ref> A 2008 ] identified as few as five main ]s, which comprise all extant brown bear species, while a 2017 ] study revealed nine clades, including one representing polar bears.<ref name="ReferenceA">{{cite journal |author1=Calvignac, S. |author2=Hughes, S. |author3=Tougard, C. |author4=Michaux, J. |author5=Thevenot, M. |author6=Philippe, M. |author7=Hamdine, W.|author8=Hanni, C.|title=Ancient DNA evidence for the loss of a highly divergent brown bear clade during historical times |journal=] |year=2008 |volume=17 |issue=8 |pages=1962–1970 |doi=10.1111/j.1365-294x.2008.03631.x |pmid=18363668|bibcode=2008MolEc..17.1962C |s2cid=23361337 |url=https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00287307/file/calvignac2008.pdf |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20221009/https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00287307/file/calvignac2008.pdf |archive-date=2022-10-09 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="lan">{{cite journal |author1=Lan, T. |author2=Gill, S. |author3=Bellemain, E. |author4=Bischof, R. |author5=Zawaz, M. A. |author6=Lindqvist, C. |year=2017 |title=Evolutionary history of enigmatic bears in the Tibetan Plateau–Himalaya region and the identity of the yeti |journal=Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences |volume=284 |issue=1,868 |pages=20,171,804 |doi=10.1098/rspb.2017.1804 |pmid=29187630 |pmc=5740279}}</ref> {{as of|2005}}, 15 extant, or recently extinct, subspecies were recognized by the general scientific community.<ref name=MSW3>{{MSW3 Wozencraft | id =14000970 | pages = 588–589|heading = ''Ursus arctos''}}</ref>
There are many methods used by scientists to define bear ] and ] as no one method is always effective. Genetic testing is now perhaps the most important way to scientifically define brown bear relationships and names. Generally genetic testing uses the word ] rather than species because a genetic test alone cannot define a ]. Most genetic studies report on how closely related the bears are (or their ]). There are hundreds of obsolete brown bear subspecies, each with its own name and this can become confusing, Hall (1981) lists 86 different types.<ref name=Harris>{{cite journal|last1=Harris|first1=Arthur H.|title=PLEISTOCENE VERTEBRATES OF ARIZONA, NEW MEXICO, AND TRANS-PECOS TEXAS.|date=2009|accessdate=24 May 2015}}</ref> The exact number of overall brown subspecies and its relationship to the ] remains in debate. The polar bear is a recent offshoot of the brown bear,<ref name="evolution"/> most likely from U. a. beringianus.<ref name="Kurten 1964"/>


DNA analysis shows that, apart from recent, human-caused ],<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Proctor |first1=Michael F. |last2=Paetkau |first2=David |last3=Mclellan |first3=Bruce N. |last4=Stenhouse |first4=Gordon B. |last5=Kendall |first5=Katherine C. |last6=Mace |first6=Richard D. |last7=Kasworm |first7=Wayne F. |last8=Servheen |first8=Christopher |last9=Lausen |first9=Cori L. |year=2012 |title=Population fragmentation and inter-ecosystem movements of grizzly bears in western Canada and the northern United States |journal=] |volume=180 |issue=1 |pages=1–46 |doi=10.1002/wmon.6 |bibcode=2012WildM.180....1P |s2cid=16790669 |issn=1938-5455}}</ref> brown bears in North America are generally part of a single interconnected population system, with the exception of the population (or subspecies) in the ], which has probably been isolated since the end of the ].<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Strobeck |first1=Curtis |last2=Craighead |first2=Lance |last3=Clarkson |first3=Peter L. |last4=Waits |first4=Lisette P. |last5=Paetkau |first5=David |date=1 December 1997 |title=An Empirical Evaluation of Genetic Distance Statistics Using Microsatellite Data From Bear (Ursidae) Populations |url=http://www.genetics.org/content/147/4/1943 |journal=] |volume=147 |issue=4 |pages=1943–1957 |doi=10.1093/genetics/147.4.1943 |issn=0016-6731 |pmid=9409849 |pmc=1208359 |access-date=29 January 2019 |archive-date=29 January 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190129235849/http://www.genetics.org/content/147/4/1943 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="Waits">{{cite journal |author=Waits, L. P. |year=1998 |title=Mitochondrial DNA Phylogeography of the North American Brown Bear and Implications for Conservation |journal=] |volume=12 |issue=2 |pages=408–417 |doi=10.1111/j.1523-1739.1998.96351.x |bibcode=1998ConBi..12..408W |s2cid=86172292 |display-authors=etal}}</ref> These data demonstrate that ''U. a. gyas'', ''U. a. horribilis'', ''U. a. sitkensis'', and ''U. a. stikeenensis'' are not distinct or cohesive groups, and would more accurately be described as ]. For example, brown bears in any particular region of the Alaska coast are more closely related to adjacent grizzly bears than to distant populations of brown bears.<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Paetkau|first1=D.|last2=Shields|first2=G. F.|last3=Strobeck|first3=C.|date=1998|title=Gene flow between insular, coastal and interior populations of brown bears in Alaska|journal=Molecular Ecology|volume=7|issue=#10|pages=1283–1292|issn=0962-1083|pmid=9787441|doi=10.1046/j.1365-294x.1998.00440.x|bibcode=1998MolEc...7.1283P |s2cid=21848010}}</ref>
In North America, two ] of the single species ''Ursus arctos horribilis'' are generally recognized—the coastal brown bear and the inland ]; these two types broadly define the range of sizes of all brown bear subspecies.


The history of the bears of the ] is unusual in that these island populations carry polar bear DNA, presumably originating from a population of polar bears that was left behind at the end of the ], but have since been connected with adjacent mainland populations through the movement of males, to the point where their nuclear genomes indicate more than 90% brown bear ancestry.<ref name="Shapiro_al.2013">{{Cite journal |last1=Shapiro |first1=Beth |last2=Slatkin |first2=Montgomery |last3=Stirling |first3=Ian |last4=John |first4=John St. |last5=Salamzade |first5=Rauf |last6=Ovsyanikov |first6=Nikita |last7=Jay |first7=Flora |last8=Stiller |first8=Mathias |last9=Fulton |first9=Tara L. |date=14 March 2013 |title=Genomic Evidence for Island Population Conversion Resolves Conflicting Theories of Polar Bear Evolution |journal=] |volume=9 |issue=3 |page=e1003345 |doi=10.1371/journal.pgen.1003345 |issn=1553-7404 |pmc=3597504 |pmid=23516372 |doi-access=free |bibcode=2013PLOSG...9.3345C }}</ref> ] analysis revealed that brown bears are apparently divided into five different clades, some of which coexist or co-occur in different regions.<ref name="Servheen" />
===Genetic clades===


===Evolution===
"The genetic diversity of present-day brown bears (Ursus arctos) has been extensively studied over the years and appears to be geographically structured into five main clades."<ref name="ReferenceA"/>
The brown bear is one of eight extant species in the ] and of six extant species in the subfamily ]. {{Phylogeny/Ursidae}}


The brown bear is thought to have evolved from the ] (''Ursus etruscus'') in Asia during the ].<ref name="evolution" /><ref>{{cite journal |author=Pérez-Hidalgo, T. |year=1992 |title=The European descendants of ''Ursus etruscus'' C. Cuvier (Mammalia, Carnivora, Ursidae) |journal=Boletín del Instituto Geológico y Minero de España |volume=103 |issue=4 |pages=632–642 |url=http://oa.upm.es/4004/2/TORRES_ART_1992_02.pdf |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20221009/http://oa.upm.es/4004/2/TORRES_ART_1992_02.pdf |archive-date=2022-10-09 |url-status=live}}</ref> A genetic analysis indicated that the brown bear lineage diverged from the ] species-complex approximately 1.2–1.4&nbsp;million years ago, but did not clarify if ''U. savini'' persisted as a ] for the brown bear before perishing.<ref name="Loreille">{{cite journal |pmid=11231157 |year=2001 |title=Ancient DNA analysis reveals divergence of the cave bear, ''Ursus spelaeus'', and brown bear, ''Ursus arctos'', lineages |journal=] |volume=11 |issue=3 |pages=200–203 |last1=Loreille |first1=O. |last2=Orlando |first2=L. |last3=Patou-Mathis |first3=M. |last4=Philippe |first4=M. |last5=Taberlet |first5=P. |last6=Hänni |first6=C. |doi=10.1016/s0960-9822(01)00046-x|s2cid=14645603 |doi-access=free |bibcode=2001CBio...11..200L }}</ref> The oldest brown bear fossils occur in Asia from about 500,000 to 300,000 years ago.<ref name="Herrero, S. 1972">{{cite journal|author=Herrero, S. |year=1972|title=Aspects of evolution and adaptation in American black bears (''Ursus americanus'' Pallas) and brown and grizzly bears (''U. arctos'' Linne.) of North America|journal=Bears: Their Biology and Management|volume=2|pages= 221–231|url=http://www.bearbiology.com/fileadmin/tpl/Downloads/URSUS/Vol_2/Herrero.pdf |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20221009/http://www.bearbiology.com/fileadmin/tpl/Downloads/URSUS/Vol_2/Herrero.pdf |archive-date=2022-10-09 |url-status=live|doi=10.2307/3872586|jstor=3872586}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Kosintsev |first1=Pavel A. |last2=Bocherens |first2=Hervé |last3=Kirillova |first3=Irina V. |last4=Levchenko |first4=Vladimir A. |last5=Zazovskaya |first5=Elya P. |last6=Trofimova |first6=Svetlana S. |last7=Lan |first7=Tianying |last8=Lindqvist |first8=Charlotte |date=5 December 2024 |title=Palaeoecological and genetic analyses of Late Pleistocene bears in Asiatic Russia |journal=] |language=en |volume=51 |issue=2 |pages=465–480 |doi=10.1111/bor.12570 |issn=0300-9483 |doi-access=free }}</ref> They entered Europe 250,000 years ago and North Africa shortly after.<ref name="evolution" /> Brown bear remains from the Pleistocene period are common in the ], where, amongst other factors, they may have contributed to the extinction of ]s (''Ursus spelaeus'').<ref name="evolution2">{{cite journal |last1=McLellan |first1=Bruce |last2=Reiner |first2=David C. |year=1994 |title=A Review of bear evolution |url=http://www.bearbiology.com/fileadmin/tpl/Downloads/URSUS/Vol_9/McLellan_Reiner_Vol_9.pdf |url-status=live |journal=Int. Conf. Bear Res. And Manage |volume=9 |issue=1 |pages=85–96 |doi=10.2307/3872687 |jstor=3872687 |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20221009/http://www.bearbiology.com/fileadmin/tpl/Downloads/URSUS/Vol_9/McLellan_Reiner_Vol_9.pdf |archive-date=2022-10-09}}</ref>
===Brown bear names===
There is little agreement on the classification of brown bears because there are so many ways to name and group them.


Brown bears first emigrated to North America from Eurasia via ] during the ].<ref name=":19">{{Cite journal |last1=Salis |first1=Alexander T. |last2=Bray |first2=Sarah C. E. |last3=Lee |first3=Michael S. Y. |last4=Heiniger |first4=Holly |last5=Barnett |first5=Ross |last6=Burns |first6=James A. |last7=Doronichev |first7=Vladimir |last8=Fedje |first8=Daryl |last9=Golovanova |first9=Liubov |last10=Harington |first10=C. Richard |last11=Hockett |first11=Bryan |last12=Kosintsev |first12=Pavel |last13=Lai |first13=Xulong |last14=Mackie |first14=Quentin |last15=Vasiliev |first15=Sergei |date=December 2022 |title=Lions and brown bears colonized North America in multiple synchronous waves of dispersal across the Bering Land Bridge |url=https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/mec.16267 |journal=Molecular Ecology |language=en |volume=31 |issue=24 |pages=6407–6421 |doi=10.1111/mec.16267 |pmid=34748674 |bibcode=2022MolEc..31.6407S |issn=0962-1083|hdl=11343/299180 |hdl-access=free }}</ref> Genetic evidence suggests that several brown bear populations migrated into North America, aligning with the glacial cycles of the Pleistocene. The founding population of most North American brown bears arrived first, with the genetic lineage developing around ~177,000 ]. Genetic divergences suggest that brown bears first migrated south during ] (~92,000–83,000 BP), upon the opening of the ice-free corridor,<ref name=":19" /><ref name=":14">{{Cite journal |last1=Kubiak |first1=Cara |last2=Grimes |first2=Vaughan |last3=Van Biesen |first3=Geert |last4=Keddie |first4=Grant |last5=Buckley |first5=Mike |last6=Macdonald |first6=Reba |last7=Richards |first7=M. P. |date=2022-06-27 |title=Dietary niche separation of three Late Pleistocene bear species from Vancouver Island, on the Pacific Northwest Coast of North America |url=https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/jqs.3451 |journal=Journal of Quaternary Science |language=en |volume=38 |pages=8–20 |doi=10.1002/jqs.3451 |issn=0267-8179 |s2cid=250134103 |access-date=2 January 2024 |archive-date=31 October 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231031102205/https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/jqs.3451 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name=":156">{{Cite journal |last1=Steffen |first1=Martina L. |last2=Fulton |first2=Tara L. |date=2018-02-01 |title=On the association of giant short-faced bear (Arctodus simus) and brown bear (Ursus arctos) in late Pleistocene North America |journal=Geobios |volume=51 |issue=1 |pages=61–74 |bibcode=2018Geobi..51...61S |doi=10.1016/j.geobios.2017.12.001}}</ref> After a local extinction in Beringia ~33,000 BP, two new but closely related lineages repopulated Alaska and northern Canada from Eurasia after the ] (>25,000 BP).<ref name=":19" />
Some systems have proposed as many as 90 subspecies,<ref name="Storer & Tevis 1955">{{cite book|last1=Storer|first1=T.I.|last2=Tevis|first2=L.P.|title=California Grizzly|date=1996-12-27|publisher=University of California Press|location=Berkeley, CA|isbn=0520205200|pages=335|url=http://www.amazon.com/California-Grizzly-Tracy-I-Storer/dp/0520205200|accessdate=18 March 2015}}</ref> while recent DNA analysis has identified as few as five clades.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.bearinfo.org/YESFedRegister.pdf |title=Endangered and Threatened Wildlife and Plants; Designating the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem Population of Grizzly Bears as a Distinct Population Segment; Removing the Yellowstone Distinct Population Segment of Grizzly Bears From the Federal List of Endangered and Threatened Wildlife |accessdate=1 August 2006 |author=U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service |date=17 November 2006 |publisher=Federal Register / Vol. 70, No. 221 |pages=69854–69884 |format=PDF |archiveurl = http://web.archive.org/web/20060825042929/http://www.bearinfo.org/YESFedRegister.pdf |archivedate = 25 August 2006}}</ref>


Brown-bear fossils discovered in ], ], ], and ] show that the species occurred farther east than indicated in historic records.<ref name="evolution">{{cite journal |last1=McLellan |first1=Bruce |last2=Reiner |first2=David C. |year=1994 |title=A Review of bear evolution |url=http://www.bearbiology.com/fileadmin/tpl/Downloads/URSUS/Vol_9/McLellan_Reiner_Vol_9.pdf |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20221009/http://www.bearbiology.com/fileadmin/tpl/Downloads/URSUS/Vol_9/McLellan_Reiner_Vol_9.pdf |archive-date=2022-10-09 |url-status=live |journal=Int. Conf. Bear Res. And Manage |volume=9 |issue=1 |pages=85–96 |doi=10.2307/3872687 |jstor=3872687}}</ref> In North America, two types of the subspecies ''Ursus arctos horribilis'' are generally recognized—the coastal brown bear and the inland grizzly bear.<ref name="pasitschniak-arts1993mamsp"></ref>
There are several recognized subspecies within the brown bear species. In North America, two types of the subspecies ''Ursus arctos horribilis'' are generally recognized—the coastal brown bear and the inland ]; these two types broadly define the range of sizes of all brown bear subspecies. An adult grizzly living inland in ] may weigh as little as {{convert|80|kg|abbr=on|round=0}}, while an adult coastal brown bear in nearby coastal ] living on a steady, nutritious diet of spawning ] may weigh as much as {{convert|680|kg|abbr=on|round=0}}.<ref name= Smith/> The exact number of overall brown subspecies remains in debate.


===Hybrids===
DNA analysis recently revealed that the brown bears in North American are genetically quite homogeneous except for the one subspecies ] and the enigmatic ] that have the ] of the ] (''Ursus maritimus'').<ref name="Waits">{{cite journal | author = Waits, L.P. | year = 1998 | title = Mitochondrial DNA Phylogeography of the North American Brown Bear and Implications for Conservation | journal = Conservation Biology | volume = 12 | issue = 2 | pages = 408–417 | doi = 10.1111/j.1523-1739.1998.96351.x|display-authors=etal}}</ref> As of 2005, 16 living global subspecies have been recognized.<ref>{{MSW3 Wozencraft | id =14000970 | pages = 588–589|heading = ''Ursus arctos''}}</ref><ref>, ITIS</ref> The subspecies have been listed as follows:
{{See also|Grizzly–black bear hybrid|Grizzly–polar bear hybrid}}
]–] hybrid in the ] Territory|alt=A photo of a bear walking in tall grass]]


A grizzly–polar bear hybrid is a rare ] resulting from a crossbreeding of a brown bear with a ]. It has occurred both in captivity and in the wild. In 2006, the occurrence of this hybrid was confirmed by testing the ] of a strange-looking bear that had been shot in the Canadian ], and seven more hybrids have since been confirmed in the same region, all descended from a single female polar bear.<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Richardson|first1=Evan|last2=Branigan|first2=Marsha|last3=Paetkau|first3=David|last4=Pongracz|first4=Jodie D.|date=31 May 2017|title=Recent Hybridization between a Polar Bear and Grizzly Bears in the Canadian Arctic|journal=Arctic|volume=70|issue=#2|pages=151–160|doi=10.14430/arctic4643|issn=1923-1245|doi-access=free}}</ref> Previously, the hybrid had been produced in ]s and was considered a "]" (a hypothesized animal for which there is no scientific proof of existence in the wild).<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Janke |first1=Axel |last2=Nilsson |first2=Maria A. |last3=Kolter |first3=Lydia |last4=Pfenninger |first4=Markus |last5=Bidon |first5=Tobias |last6=Lammers |first6=Fritjof |last7=Kumar |first7=Vikas |date=19 April 2017 |title=The evolutionary history of bears is characterized by gene flow across species |journal=] |volume=7 |pages=46,487 |doi=10.1038/srep46487 |issn=2045-2322 |pmc=5395953 |pmid=28422140 |bibcode=2017NatSR...746487K}}</ref> Analyses of the genomes of bears have shown that ] between species was widespread during the evolution of the genus ''Ursus'',<ref>{{Cite journal |doi=10.1126/science.1216424 |pmid=22517859 |title=Nuclear Genomic Sequences Reveal that Polar Bears Are an Old and Distinct Bear Lineage |journal=Science |volume=336 |issue=6079 |pages=344–347 |year=2012 |last1=Hailer |first1=F. |last2=Kutschera |first2=V. E. |last3=Hallstrom |first3=B. M. |last4=Klassert |first4=D. |last5=Fain |first5=S. R. |last6=Leonard |first6=J. A. |last7=Arnason |first7=U. |last8=Janke |first8=A. |bibcode=2012Sci...336..344H |hdl=10261/58578|s2cid=12671275 |hdl-access=free }}</ref> including the introgression of polar-bear DNA introduced to brown bears during the Pleistocene.<ref>{{Cite journal |doi=10.1073/pnas.1210506109 |title=Polar and brown bear genomes reveal ancient admixture and demographic footprints of past climate change |journal=Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences |volume=109 |issue=36 |pages=E2382–E2390 |year=2012 |last1=Miller |first1=W. |last2=Schuster |first2=S. C. |last3=Welch |first3=A. J. |last4=Ratan |first4=A. |last5=Bedoya-Reina |first5=O. C. |last6=Zhao |first6=F. |last7=Kim |first7=H. L. |last8=Burhans |first8=R. C. |last9=Drautz |first9=D. I. |last10=Wittekindt |first10=N. E. |last11=Tomsho |first11=L. P. |last12=Ibarra-Laclette |first12=E. |last13=Herrera-Estrella |first13=L. |last14=Peacock |first14=E. |last15=Farley |first15=S. |last16=Sage |first16=G. K. |last17=Rode |first17=K. |last18=Obbard |first18=M. |last19=Montiel |first19=R. |last20=Bachmann |first20=L. |last21=Ingolfsson |first21=O. |last22=Aars |first22=J. |last23=Mailund |first23=T. |last24=Wiig |first24=O. |last25=Talbot |first25=S. L. |last26=Lindqvist |first26=C. |bibcode=2012PNAS..109E2382M |pmid=22826254 |pmc=3437856|doi-access=free }}</ref>
====Eurasian====

{| class="wikitable"
|-
!Subspecies name!! Image !! Distribution!! Description/Comments
|-
| valign="top" | {{nowrap|''Ursus arctos arctos''}} – ]
|]
| valign="top" | Europe, Caucasus, Siberia (except the east) and Mongolia<ref name="soviet"/>
| valign="top" | A predominantly dark colored (rarely light colored), moderately sized subspecies with dark claws, the Eurasian browns occurring in Siberia are larger than their European counterparts, as they are hunted less.<ref name="soviet"/> Where found in Europe, primarily a forest creature
|-
| valign="top" | {{nowrap|''Ursus arctos beringianus''}} – ] (or Far Eastern brown bear)
|]
| valign="top" | ],<ref name="Kurten 1964"/> ] Peninsula,<ref name="Kurten 1964"/> ] and ]<ref name="soviet"/>
| valign="top" | A very large, dark colored bear. It is thought to be the ancestor of the ]<ref name="Kurten 1964"/> and the ].<ref name="evolution"/> and the Peninsular brown bears of ]. Middendorf described it from Greater Shantar Island with its distribution range comprising the eastern coast of Siberia and Japan.<ref name="Baryshnikov et al. 2004">{{cite journal|last1=Baryshnikov|first1=Gennady|last2=Mano|first2=Tsutmano|last3=Masuda|first3=Ryuchi|title=Taxonomic Differentiation of Ursus arctos (Carnova, Ursidae) from the south Ohkost Sea Islands|journal=Russian Journal of Theriology|date=2004|volume=3|issue=2|pages=77–88|accessdate=24 May 2015}}</ref>
|-
| valign="top" | {{nowrap|''Ursus arctos collaris''}} – ]
|]
| valign="top" | East ] from the ] to the ], also found in northern Mongolia
| valign="top" | A predominantly dark form, it is intermediate in size between ''U. a. arctos'' and ''U. a. beringianus'', with a proportionately larger skull.<ref name="soviet"/>
|-
| valign="top" | {{nowrap|''Ursus arctos crowtheri''}} – †] (extinct)
| ]
| valign="top" | Habitat while still extant was the ] and adjacent areas in North Africa, from ] to ].
| valign="top" | Last surviving bear is thought to have been killed by hunters in 1890.<ref name="brown"/>
|-
| valign="top" | {{nowrap|''Ursus arctos isabellinus''}} – ]
|]
| valign="top" | ], ], and ]
| valign="top" | Has a reddish-brown or sandy coat color and large ears, this bear is smaller than most other brown bears found on the Asian continent. Prefers high altitude forest and alpine meadow. ].
|-
| valign="top" | {{nowrap|''Ursus arctos lasiotus''}} – ] (or Amur brown bear, black grizzly or horse bear)
|]
| valign="top" | Russia: Southern ], ], ], and the ]/] region south of the ], China (former ]): ], ]: ], Korean Peninsula: ]<ref name="soviet"/>
| valign="top" | This bear is thought to be the ancestor of ''U. a. horribilis''.<ref name="evolution"/>
|-
| valign="top" | {{nowrap|''Ursus arctos marsicanus''}} – ] or Apennine brown bear<ref name="Ciucci et al.">{{cite journal|last1=Ciucci|first1=Paolo|title=Seasonal and annual variation in the food habits of Apennine brown bears, central Italy|journal=Journal of Mammalog|date=2014|volume=95|issue=3|pages=572–586|url=http://www.bioone.org/doi/abs/10.1644/13-MAMM-A-218|accessdate=18 March 2015|display-authors=etal}}</ref>
|
| valign="top" | ], central Italy
| valign="top" | There are an estimated 30 to 40 bears remaining in the Marsica area. This is an unrecognized subspecies that is considered to be a member of the nominate subspecies.<ref name=MSW3/>
|-
| valign="top" | {{nowrap|''Ursus arctos pruinosus''}} – ]
|]
| valign="top" | ] <ref name="soviet"/> an ] lives in the ].
| valign="top" | This is a moderately sized subspecies with long and shaggy fur. Both dark and light variants are encountered, with intermediate colors predominating. The fur around the neck is light, and forms a "collar". The skull is distinguished its relatively flattened choanae, an arch-like curve of the molar row and large teeth.<ref name="soviet"/>
|-
| valign="top" | {{nowrap|''Ursus arctos syriacus''}} – ]
|]
| valign="top" | The trans-Caucasus, Syria, Iraq, Turkey (Asia Minor), Iran, Afghanistan, Pakistan, western Himalayas and the Pamir-Alai and Tien Shan mountains,<ref name="soviet"/> probable historical presence in Israel
| valign="top" | The Syrian is a light colored, moderate to small-sized subspecies with light claws.<ref name="soviet"/>
|}

====North American====

{| class="wikitable"
|-
!Subspecies name!! Image !! Distribution!! Description/Comments
|-
| valign="top" | {{nowrap|''Ursus arctos alascensis''}}<ref name=MSW3>. Mammal Species of the World. Bucknell University.</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |title= ''Ursus arctos alascensis'' Merriam, 1896|publisher= ] (ITIS) |url= http://www.itis.gov/servlet/SingleRpt/SingleRpt?search_topic=TSN&search_value=726985&print_version=PRT&source=to_print }}</ref> – Alaska brown bear
|
| valign="top" | Coastal ]
| valign="top" |
|-
| valign="top" | {{nowrap|''Ursus arctos californicus''}} – †] (])
|]
| valign="top" | ]
| valign="top" | The last known bear was shot in California in 1922.
|-
| valign="top" | {{nowrap|''Ursus arctos dalli''}} – ] brown bear
|
| valign="top" | ]
| valign="top" |
|-
| valign="top" | {{nowrap|''Ursus arctos gyas''}} – ]
| valign="top" |]
| valign="top" | ]
| valign="top" | Considered by some biologists to be same subspecies as U. a. middendorffi.<ref>Burt. Henry W. (1952) ''A Field Guide to the Mammals.'' p. 42.</ref>
|-
| valign="top" | {{nowrap|''Ursus arctos horribilis''}} – ]
|]
| valign="top" | ] and ], ], and the ], historically existed in ]
| valign="top" | Grizzlies are identified by a medium to dark brown coat with gray or blond "grizzled" tips on the fur. Smaller than coastal bears, a large male grizzly can weigh up to {{convert|364|kg|lb}} in inland areas, with bears in the ] weighing as little as {{convert|80|kg|lb|abbr=on}}{{Citation needed|date=January 2015}}. Coastal bears may be nearly twice a mountain grizzly's weight. Highly adaptable: it can live in ], ], semi-arid ], and ].
|-
| valign="top" | {{nowrap|''Ursus arctos middendorffi''}} – ]
|]
| valign="top" | ], ], ]s (])
| valign="top" | This is the largest subspecies of brown bear, with other coastal brown bears potentially reaching nearly as large.
|-
| valign="top" | {{nowrap|''Ursus arctos nelsoni''}} – †] (extinct)
|]
| valign="top" | The smallest North American bear, formerly from northern Mexico, including ], ], and ], southwestern United States including southern ranges of ], ], and ]
| valign="top" | This bear is believed extinct due to its interference with cattle ranching in both the United States and Mexico. Distinct in its ability to survive arid conditions, it could live in both montane pine forests of Mexico and canyonlands of adjacent to the Sonoran Desert.
|-
| valign="top" | {{nowrap|''Ursus arctos sitkensis''}}
|
| valign="top" | ], ], and ] the ABC Islands of ].
| valign="top" | Appearing to be more closely related to the ] than to other brown bears,<ref name="Waits" /> this species is called "clade II" by Waits, and others, and is part of the former subspecies identified as ''U. a. sitkensis'', by Hall and as ''U. a. dalli'' by Kurtén.
|-
| valign="top" | {{nowrap|''Ursus arctos stikeenensis''}} – ]
|
| valign="top" | Northwestern ]<ref name=Stickeen>{{cite web| last = Bear Conservation UK | title = Stickeen Brown Bear | url = http://www.fourdirections.webspace.virginmedia.com/page116.html | accessdate = 15 June 2013}}</ref> From the ] to the ].<ref name=MSW3>http://wildpro.twycrosszoo.org/S/0MCarnivor/ursidae/ursus/Ursus_arctos/19Ursus_arctosSpecVar.htm</ref>
| valign="top" | Considered by biologists to be U. a. horribilis,<ref name="Waits" /><ref name="Miller & Waits 2006">{{cite journal|last1=Miller|first1=CR|last2=Waits|first2=L.P.|title=Phylogeography and mitochondrial diversity of extirpated brown bear (Ursus arctos) populations in the contiguous United States and Mexico|journal=Mol Ecol.|date=2006|volume=15|issue=14|pages=4477–85|accessdate=24 May 2015}}</ref> it once was thought a subspecies.<ref name=Stickeen>{{cite web| last = Bear Conservation UK | title = Stickeen Brown Bear | url = http://www.fourdirections.webspace.virginmedia.com/page116.html | accessdate = 15 June 2013}}</ref>

|}

====Hybrids====
{{Main|Grizzly–polar bear hybrid}}
A grizzly–polar bear hybrid (known as a ''pizzly bear'' or ''grolar bear'') is a rare ] resulting from a union of a brown bear and a ]. It has occurred both in captivity and in the wild. In 2006, the occurrence of this hybrid in nature was confirmed by testing the ] of a strange-looking bear that had been shot in the ] ].<ref name="msn">{{cite news |url=http://msnbc.msn.com/id/12738644/?GT1=8199 |title=Wild find: Half grizzly, half polar bear: Hunter bags what expert 'never thought would happen' in wild |agency=Associated Press |date=11 May 2006 |accessdate=14 May 2006}}</ref><ref name="mallet">{{cite journal |title=Hybridization, ecological races and the nature of species: empirical evidence for the ease of speciation |author=] |year=2008 |issue= 1506|pages=2971–2986 |doi=10.1098/rstb.2008.0081 |journal=] B |url=http://www.ucl.ac.uk/taxome/jim/pap/Mallet08%20Phil%20Trans.pdf |volume=363 |pmid=18579473 |pmc=2607318}}</ref><ref name="barnosky">{{cite book |title=Heatstroke: Nature in an Age of Global Warming |author=Barnosky, Anthony D. |year=2009 |isbn=1-59726-197-1 |url=http://books.google.com/?id=Di6SVZZjLAgC&pg=PA10|publisher=Island Press/Shearwater Books |location=Washington, DC}}</ref> Previously, the hybrid had been produced in ]s, and was considered a "]" (a hypothesized animal for which there is no scientific proof of existence in the wild).

Because they can interbreed these bears are not different ].

Analyses of the genomes of bears have recovered multiple instances of introgressive hybridization between various bear species,<ref>{{cite doi|10.1126/science.1216424}}</ref><ref>{{cite doi|10.1073/pnas.1210506109}}</ref> including introgression of polar bear DNA intro brown bears during the Pleistocene.

==== Formerly considered subspecies ====
{| class="wikitable"
|-
!Former<br> Subspecies Name!! Image !! Distribution!! Description
|-
| valign="top" | ''Ursus arctos pyrenaicus'' – ], sometimes called ], now considered ''Ursus arctos arctos'' – ]
|See photographs in ], also available in ], ] and ])] and in ]]
| valign="top" | ], primarily the ] and hills in ], and the ]<ref name="La recuperació del rei dels boscos">{{cite web | url = http://revista.consumer.es/web/ca/20050901/medioambiente/69893.php | title = La recuperació del rei dels boscos | accessdate = 19 November 2010 | language = Basque, ], ], ]}}</ref>
| valign="top" | Until recently, this bear was considered a separate subspecies. Today, it is considered to belong to the '']'' subspecies. Scientific evidence based on DNA studies would furthermore indicate the European brown bear can be divided into two distinct lineages. "There is a clear division into two main mitochondrial lineages in modern European brown bear populations. These populations are divided into those carrying an eastern lineage (clade IIIa, Leonard et al. 2000), which is composed of Russian, northern Scandinavian and eastern European populations, and those carrying a western lineage (clade I, Leonard et al. 2000), which is composed of two subgroups, one believed to originate from the Iberian Peninsula, including southern Scandinavian bears and the Pyreneean populations; and the other from the Italian–Balkan peninsulas (Taberlet et al. 1994; see however Kohn et al. 1995). In addition, based on the subfossil record in northwestern Moldova and mitochondrial DNA data from modern populations, a Carpathian refuge has also been proposed (Sommer & Benecke 2005; Saarma et al. 2007)."<ref name=j1>{{cite pmid|18031475}}</ref>

The brown bear is the largest animal on the ], although one of the smallest of the brown bears, weigh between {{convert|130|and|180|kg|lb|abbr=on}} as adults. Their fur varies from a pale cream color to dark brown, but always with a distinctively darker, nearly black tone at the paws and a yellowish tinge at the tip of each hair. The brown bear population is considered ] in Spain.

The brown bear population in the ] stems mostly from bears reintroduced from ], with one or two remaining original males.<ref name="La recuperació del rei dels boscos"/><ref name=j1/><ref>. Fundación Oso Pardo – distribution maps and population from 2008 (in ])</ref><ref> – detailed distribution maps and census information from 2009 (in ]).</ref><ref>. picos-accommodation.co.uk.</ref>
|}


==Description== ==Description==
]
]

===Color of brown bears===
Brown bears are often not brown. Brown bears have long, thick fur, with a moderately long mane at the back of the neck. In India, brown bears can be reddish with silver tips, while in China, brown bears are bicolored with a yellow-brown or whitish cape across the shoulders. North American grizzlies can be dark brown (almost black) to cream (almost white) or yellowish brown. Black hairs usually have white tips.<ref name="brown"/> The winter fur is very thick and long, especially in northern subspecies, and can reach {{Convert|11|to|12|cm|in|sigfig=1}} at the ]. The winter hairs are thin, yet rough to the touch. The summer fur is much shorter and sparser, and its length and density varies geographically.<ref name="soviet"/>

===Large claws for digging===
Brown bears have very large and curved claws, those present on the forelimbs being longer than those on the hind limbs. They may reach {{Convert|5|to|6|cm|in|sigfig=2}} and sometimes {{Convert|7|to|10|cm|in|sigfig=2}} along the curve.<ref name="soviet">], "Sirenia and carnivora (Sea cows; Wolves and Bears)",</ref> They are generally dark with a light tip, with some forms having completely light claws.<ref name="soviet"/> Brown bear claws are longer and straighter than those of ]s (''Ursus americanus'').<ref name="brown">''Bear Anatomy and Physiology'' from Gary Brown's ''The Great Bear Almanac'', Lyons & Burford, Publishers, 1993</ref> The claws are blunt, while those of a black bear are sharp. Due to their claw structure, in addition to their excessive weight, adult brown bears cannot climb trees as can both species of black bear. The paws of the brown bear are quite large. The rear feet of adult bears have been found to typically measure {{convert|21|to|36|cm|in|abbr=on}} long, with huge Kodiak bears having measured up to {{convert|46|cm|in|abbr=on}} along their rear foot.<ref name="Hunter"/><ref name = "Wood">{{cite book | author = Wood, Gerald |url = | title =The Guinness Book of Animal Facts and Feats| year = 1983 | isbn = 978-0-85112-235-9}}</ref>

===Massive brown bear skulls and jaws===
Adults have massive, heavily built ] skulls, which are large in proportion to the body. The forehead is high and rises steeply.<ref name="brown"/> The projections of the skull are well developed when compared to those of ]s (''Ursus thibetanus''): the latter have ]s not exceeding more than 19–20% of the total length of the skull, while the former have sagittal crests comprising up to 40–41% of the skull's length. Skull projections are more weakly developed in females than in males. The ] is relatively small and elongated. There is a great deal of geographical variation in the skull, and presents itself chiefly in dimensions.<ref name="soviet"/> Grizzlies, for example, tend to have flatter profiles than European and coastal American brown bears.<ref name="living"/> Skull lengths of Russian bears tend to be {{Convert|31.5|to|45.5|cm|in|sigfig=3}} for males, and {{Convert|27.5|to|39.7|cm|in|sigfig=3}} for females. The width of the ]es in males is {{Convert|17.5|to|27.7|cm|in|sigfig=2}}, and {{Convert|14.7|to|24.7|cm|in|sigfig=2}} in females.<ref name="soviet"/> Brown bears have very strong teeth: the ] are relatively big and the ] are large, the lower ones being strongly curved. The first three molars of the upper jaw are underdeveloped and single crowned with one root. The second upper molar is smaller than the others, and is usually absent in adults. It is usually lost at an early age, leaving no trace of the alveolus in the jaw. The first three molars of the lower jaw are very weak, and are often lost at an early age.<ref name="soviet"/> Although they have powerful jaws, brown bear jaws are incapable of breaking large bones with the ease of ]s (''Crocuta crocuta'').<ref>{{cite journal|url=http://ecmjournal.org/journal/smi/pdf/smi99-37.pdf|title=Enamel microstructural specialization in the canine of the spotted hyena, ''Crocuta crocuta''|author=John M. Rensberger|journal=Scanning Microscopy|volume= 13|issue=2–3|year= 1999|pages=343–361}}</ref>

===Body size===
The size of brown bears is the most variable of modern bears. The typical size depends upon which population it is from. A large barren ground brown bear might seem quite small elsewhere.

The brown bear (] in Europe, ] or interior ] seasonally weigh on average between {{convert|115|and|360|kg|lb|abbr=on}}. Bears from the ], interior ], ] and southern Europe can weigh from {{convert|55|to|155|kg|lb|abbr=on}} on average.<ref name= Smith/><ref>{{cite web|title=Brown Grizzly or Brown Bear (Ursus arctos)|url=http://www.nsrl.ttu.edu/tmot1/ursuarct.htm|publisher=Mammals of Texas- Online Edition |accessdate=14 June 2012}}</ref> Bears from the ]n (''U. a. syriacus'') and the ] (''U. a. gobiensis'') subspecies are around the same mass as the smaller Eurasian brown and grizzly bears and can exceptionally measure as small as {{convert|1|m|ft|abbr=on}} in head-and-body length.<ref name= Smith/> On the other end of the scale among interior brown bears, exceptional grizzly, Eurasian brown bears, and ]s (''U. a. collaris'') have been weighed up to {{convert|680|kg|lb|abbr=on}}, {{convert|481|kg|lb|abbr=on}} and {{convert|600|kg|lb|abbr=on}}, respectively.<ref name = "Wood">{{cite book | author = Wood, Gerald |title =The Guinness Book of Animal Facts and Feats| year = 1983 | page = 256 | isbn = 978-0-85112-235-9}}</ref>

Interior brown bears are generally smaller than is often perceived, being around the same weight as an average ] at an estimate average of {{convert|180|kg|lb|abbr=on}} in males and {{convert|135|kg|lb|abbr=on}} in females.<ref>{{cite web|title=Ursus arctos- Brown Bear species|url=http://wildpro.twycrosszoo.org/S/0MCarnivor/ursidae/ursus/Ursus_arctos/Ursus_arctos.htm#Measurement|publisher=Wildpro |accessdate=14 June 2012}}</ref>


===Size===
The largest inland brown bear subspecies appears to be the ] (''U. a. lasiotus''), likely the ancestor of the modern-day American grizzly, which can obtain sizes comparable to those of the coastal bears as described below.<ref name="soviet"/>
]
The brown bear is the most variable in size of modern bears. The typical size depends upon which population it is from, as most accepted subtypes vary widely in size. This is in part due to ], as male brown bears average at least 30% larger than females in most subtypes. Individual bears vary in size seasonally, weighing the least in spring due to lack of foraging during hibernation, and the most in late fall, after a period of ] to put on additional weight to prepare for hibernation.<ref>{{cite journal|author1=Hissa, R.|author2=Siekkinen, J.|author3=Hohtola, E.|author4=Saarela, S.|author5=Hakala, A.|author6=Pudas, J.|year=1994|title=Seasonal patterns in the physiology of the European brown bear (''Ursus arctos arctos'') in Finland|pmid=8529017|journal=Comparative Biochemistry and Physiology Part A: Physiology|volume=109|issue=#3|pages=781–791|doi=10.1016/0300-9629(94)90222-4|url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/14671511|access-date=12 December 2016|archive-date=15 June 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200615041954/https://www.researchgate.net/publication/14671511_Seasonal_patterns_in_the_physiology_of_the_European_brown_bear_Ursus_arctos_arctos_in_Finland|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name= McLellan>{{cite journal|author=McLellan, B. N. |year=2011|title=Implications of a high-energy and low-protein diet on the body composition, fitness, and competitive abilities of black (''Ursus americanus'') and grizzly (''Ursus arctos'') bears|journal= Canadian Journal of Zoology|volume= 89|issue=#6|pages=546–558|doi=10.1139/z11-026}}</ref>


]
Due to the lack of genetic variation within subspecies, the environmental conditions in a given area likely plays the largest part in such weight variations.<ref name= Smith/>


Brown bears generally weigh {{cvt|80|to|600|kg}}, with males outweighing females.<ref name="pasitschniak-arts1993mamsp">{{Cite journal |last=Maria Pasitschniak-Arts |date=23 April 1993 |title=Ursus arctos |url=https://www.science.smith.edu/departments/Biology/VHAYSSEN/msi/pdf/i0076-3519-439-01-0001.pdf |journal=Mammalian Species |issue=439 |pages=1–10 |doi=10.2307/3504138 |jstor=3504138 |access-date=5 March 2023 |archive-date=5 March 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230305165411/https://www.science.smith.edu/departments/Biology/VHAYSSEN/msi/pdf/i0076-3519-439-01-0001.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref> They have a head-and-body length of {{cvt|1.4|to|2.8|m}} and a shoulder height of {{cvt|70|to|153|cm}}. The tail is relatively short, as in all bears, ranging from {{cvt|6|to|22|cm}} in length.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Grzimek |first=Bernhard |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ISBN0079095089 |title=Grzimek's Encyclopedia of Mammals |date=1990 |publisher=McGraw-Hill |isbn=978-0-07-909508-4 |pages=52–53 |language=en }}{{Dead link|date=August 2024 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref><ref name=Walker>{{Cite book |last=Nowak |first=Ronald M. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ZmMvnoyjyYMC |title=Walker's Mammals of the World |date=1991 |publisher=Johns Hopkins University Press |isbn=978-0-8018-3970-2 |pages=1083–1093 |language=en}}</ref> The smallest brown bears, females during spring among barren-ground populations, can weigh so little as to roughly match the body mass of males of the smallest living bear species, the ] (''Helarctos malayanus''), while the largest coastal populations attain sizes broadly similar to those of the largest living bear species, the ].<ref name="Christiansen3">{{cite journal|author=Christiansen, P.|year=1999|title=What size were ''Arctodus simus'' and ''Ursus spelaeus'' (Carnivora: Ursidae)?|journal=Annales Zoologici Fennici|volume=36|issue=2|pages=93–102|jstor=23735739}}</ref> Brown bears of the interior are generally smaller, being around the same weight as an average ], at an average of {{cvt|180|kg}} in males and {{cvt|135|kg}} in females, whereas adults of the coastal populations weigh about twice as much.<ref name= Feldhamer/> The average weight of adult male bears, from 19 populations, was found to be {{cvt|217|kg}} while adult females from 24 populations were found to average {{cvt|152|kg}}.<ref name="pasitschniak-arts1993mamsp"></ref><ref name= Swenson2>{{cite journal|doi=10.1007/s00442-007-0715-1|pmid=17415593|title=Brown bear body mass and growth in northern and southern Europe|journal=Oecologia|volume=153|issue=#1|pages=37–47|year=2007|last1=Swenson|first1=Jon E.|last2=Adamič|first2=Miha|last3=Huber|first3=Djuro|last4=Stokke|first4=Sigbjørn|url=http://bearproject.info/old/uploads/publications/2007%20Swenson%20et%20al%20Oecologia.pdf |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20221009/http://bearproject.info/old/uploads/publications/2007%20Swenson%20et%20al%20Oecologia.pdf |archive-date=2022-10-09 |url-status=live|bibcode=2007Oecol.153...37S|s2cid=5836340}}</ref>
The largest subspecies, the ] (''U. a. middendorffi''), rivals the ] as the largest member of the bear family (]).<ref name= Smith>{{cite web|url=http://www.science.smith.edu/msi/pdf/i0076-3519-439-01-0001.pdf |format=PDF |title=Mammalian Species- Ursus arctos |publisher=American Society of Mammalogists, Smith College |accessdate=14 June 2012}}</ref><ref name="kodiak">{{cite web |url=http://www.fws.gov/endangered/esa-library/pdf/polar_bear.pdf |format=PDF |title=Polar bear,(''Ursus maritimus'') |publisher=U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service |accessdate=22 March 2008 |quote=Appearance.()}}</ref><ref name= FWS>{{cite web|title=Kodiak Brown Bear- Kodiak- U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service |url=http://www.fws.gov/refuge/Kodiak/wildlife_and_habitat/bear.html|publisher=U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service |accessdate=2012-06-14}}</ref><ref name= FWS>{{cite web|title=Kodiak Brown Bear- Kodiak- U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service |url=http://www.fws.gov/refuge/Kodiak/wildlife_and_habitat/bear.html|publisher=U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service |accessdate=14 June 2012}}</ref><ref>()</ref> The ] and also the extinct ]<ref name="Storer & Tevis 1955">{{cite book|last1=Storer|first1=T. I.|last2=Tevis|first2=L. P.|title=T. I. Storer and L. P. Tevis, California Grizzly|date=1955|publisher=University of California Press|location=Berkeley, CA|accessdate=24 May 2015}}</ref><ref name="LaFee 2008">{{cite news|last1=LaFee|first1=Scott|title=Seeds of doubt|url=http://www.utsandiego.com/uniontrib/20080529/news_1c29bear.html|accessdate=24 May 2015|publisher=San Diego Union Tribune|date=2008-05-29}}</ref> approached the Kodiak brown bear in size.<ref name="soviet">''Mammals of the Soviet Union'' Vol.II Part 1a, SIRENIA AND CARNIVORA (Sea cows; Wolves and Bears), V.G Heptner and N.P Naumov editors, Science Publishers, Inc. USA. 1998. ISBN 1-886106-81-9</ref> Leopold (1959) described the ] that, according to Rausch (1963), qualifies as the smallest form of U. a. horribilis in North America.<ref name="Storer & Tevis 1955">{{cite book|last1=Storer|first1=T. I.|last2=Tevis|first2=L. P.|title=T. I. Storer and L. P. Tevis, California Grizzly|date=1955|publisher=University of California Press|location=Berkeley, CA|accessdate=24 May 2015}}</ref> One ] weighed {{convert|2200 |lb|kg|abbr=on}} pounds.<ref name="LaFee 2008">{{cite news|last1=LaFee|first1=Scott|title=Seeds of doubt|url=http://www.utsandiego.com/uniontrib/20080529/news_1c29bear.html|accessdate=24 May 2015|publisher=San Diego Union Tribune|date=2008-05-29}}</ref>


===Coloration===
Size fluctuates depending upon sex, age, individual, geographic location, and season. The normal range of physical dimensions for a brown bear is a head-and-body length of {{convert|1.4|to|2.8|m|ft|abbr=on}} and a shoulder height of {{convert|70|to|153|cm|in|abbr=on}}. Males within one area are larger than females, typically weighing around 30% more.
]|left]]


Brown bears are often not fully brown.<ref name= Jones>{{cite journal|author=Jones, S. V. |year=1923|title=Color variations in wild animals|journal= Journal of Mammalogy|pages= 172–177|jstor=1373567|volume=4|issue=#3|doi=10.2307/1373567}}</ref> They have long, thick fur, with a moderately elongated mane at the back of the neck which varies somewhat across bear types.<ref name= Swenson>Swenson, J. E. (2000). {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161220112705/https://wcd.coe.int/com.instranet.InstraServlet?command=com.instranet.CmdBlobGet&InstranetImage=1391833&SecMode=1&DocId=1459496&Usage=2 |date=20 December 2016 }} (No. 18-114). Council of Europe.</ref> In India, brown bears can be reddish with silver-tipped hairs, while in China, brown bears are bicolored, with a yellowish-brown or whitish collar across the neck, chest, and shoulders.<ref name= Jones/><ref>{{cite journal|pmid=18450212|year=2008|last1=Sahajpal|first1=V|title=Hair characteristics of four Indian bear species|journal=Science & Justice|volume=48|issue=#1|pages=8–15|last2=Goyal|first2=S. P.|last3=Jayapal|first3=R|last4=Yoganand|first4=K|last5=Thakar|first5=M. K.|doi=10.1016/j.scijus.2007.05.001}}</ref> Even within well-defined subspecies, individuals may show highly variable hues of brown. North American grizzlies can be from dark brown (almost black) to cream (almost white) or yellowish-brown and often have darker-colored legs. The common name "grizzly" stems from their typical coloration, with the hairs on their back usually being brownish-black at the base and whitish-cream at the tips, giving them their distinctive "grizzled" color. Apart from the ] of the ] (''U. americanus cinnamonum''), the brown bear is the only modern bear species to typically appear truly brown.<ref name="brown"/> The brown bear's winter fur is very thick and long, especially in northern subspecies, and can reach {{cvt|11|to|12|cm}} at the ]. The winter hairs are thin, yet rough to the touch. The summer fur is much shorter and sparser, with its length and density varying among geographic ranges.<ref name="soviet">{{cite book |title=Mlekopitajuščie Sovetskogo Soiuza. Moskva: Vysšaia Škola |trans-title=Mammals of the Soviet Union, Volume II, Part 1a, Sirenia and Carnivora (Sea cows; Wolves and Bears) |volume=II, Part 1a |editor1=V. G. Heptner |editor2=N. P. Naumov |publisher=Science Publishers, Inc. |year=1998 |isbn=1-886106-81-9 |location=Washington, D.C., US |url=https://archive.org/stream/mammalsofsov211998gept#page/648/mode/2up|pages=601–676}}</ref>
The tail is relatively short, ranging from {{convert|6|to|22|cm|in|abbr=on}} in length.<ref>. zoo.org</ref>
Adult bears generally weigh between {{convert|100|and|635|kg|lb|abbr=on}}.


===Cranial morphology and size===
Generally speaking, brown bears weigh the least when they emerge from hibernation in the spring and then reach peak weights when preparing for hibernation in the fall (when they often gorge on large food stuffs).<ref name= Smith/>
]


Adults have massive, heavily built, concave skulls, which are large in proportion to the body.<ref name="brown"/> The projections of the skull are well developed.<ref name="soviet"/> Skull lengths of Russian brown bears tend to be {{cvt|31.5|to|45.5|cm}} for males, and {{cvt|27.5|to|39.7|cm}} for females. Brown bears have the broadest skull of any extant ursine bear.<ref name= Feldhamer>{{cite book |last1=Feldhamer |first1=G. A. |last2=Thompson |first2=B. C. |last3=Chapman |first3=J. A. |year=2003 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-xQalfqP7BcC&pg=PP1 |title=Wild mammals of North America: biology, management, and conservation |publisher=JHU Press |isbn=9780801874161 |access-date=9 November 2020 |archive-date=2 February 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240202162053/https://books.google.com/books?id=-xQalfqP7BcC&pg=PP1#v=onepage&q&f=false |url-status=live }}</ref> The width of the ]es in males is {{cvt|17.5|to|27.7|cm}}, and {{cvt|14.7|to|24.7|cm}} in females.<ref name="soviet"/> Brown bears have strong jaws: the ]s and ] are large, with the lower canines being strongly curved. The first three molars of the upper jaw are underdeveloped and single-crowned with one root. The second upper molar is smaller than the others, and is usually absent in adults. It is usually lost at an early age, leaving no trace of its ] in the jaw. The first three molars of the lower jaw are very weak, and are often lost at an early age.<ref name="soviet"/> The teeth of brown bears reflect their dietary plasticity and are broadly similar to those of other bears.<ref name= Christiansen2>{{cite journal|doi=10.1002/jmor.10643|pmid=18488989|title=Feeding ecology and morphology of the upper canines in bears (carnivora: Ursidae)|journal=Journal of Morphology|volume=269|issue=#7|pages=896–908|year=2008|last1=Christiansen|first1=Per|s2cid=33532210}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|author=Kurtén, B. |year=1966|title= Pleistocene bears of North America: Genus ''Tremarctos'', spectacled bears|journal=Acta Zoologica Fennica |volume=115|pages=1–96}}</ref> They are reliably larger than teeth of ]s, but average smaller in molar length than those of ]s.<ref>{{cite journal|doi=10.1017/S0952836904004856|title=Ecomorphological indicators of feeding behaviour in the bears (Carnivora: Ursidae)|journal=Journal of Zoology|volume=263|page=41|year=2004|last1=Sacco|first1=Tyson|last2=Van Valkenburgh|first2=Blaire}}</ref>
===Ecotype or regional populations===
An adult grizzly living inland in ] may weigh as little as {{convert|80|kg|abbr=on|round=0}}, while an adult coastal brown bear in nearby coastal ] living on a steady, nutritious diet of spawning ] may weigh as much as {{convert|680|kg|abbr=on|round=0}}.<ref name= Smith/>


===Claws and feet===
Young of the year typically weigh {{convert|2|-|27|kg|lb|abbr=on}}, while yearlings typically weigh {{convert|9|-|37|kg|lb|abbr=on}}.<ref name= Smith/>
]


Brown bears have large, curved claws, with the front ones being larger than the back. They may reach {{cvt|5|to|6|cm}} and measure {{cvt|7|to|10|cm}} along the curve.<ref name="soviet"/> Compared with the ] (''Ursus americanus''), the brown bear has longer and stronger claws, with a blunt curve.<ref name="brown">'{{Cite book |last=Brown |first=Gary |url=http://archive.org/details/greatbearalmanac0000brow |title=The great bear almanac |entry=Bear Anatomy and Physiology|date=1993 |publisher=New York : Lyons & Burford |others=Internet Archive |isbn=978-1-55821-210-7}}</ref> Due to their claw structure, in addition to their excessive weight, adult brown bears are not able to climb trees as well as black bears. In rare cases adult female brown bears have been seen scaling trees.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Seryodkin |first=Ivan V. |date=2016-06-01 |title=Behavior of Brown Bears During Feeding in the Sikhote-Alin |journal=Achievements in the Life Sciences |volume=10 |issue=1 |pages=38–47 |doi=10.1016/j.als.2016.05.003 |issn=2078-1520|doi-access=free }}</ref> The claws of a polar bear are quite different, being notably shorter but broader with a strong curve and sharper point.<ref name="Herrero, S. 1972"/><ref>{{Cite book |last=Stirling |first=Ian |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=f0ggAQAAIAAJ |title=Polar Bears |date=1988 |publisher=University of Michigan Press |isbn=978-0-472-10100-9 |language=en|pages=20–25}}</ref> The species has large paws; the rear feet measure {{cvt|21|to|36|cm}} long, while the forefeet tend to measure 40% less.<ref name="Hunter"/> Brown bears are the only extant bears with a hump at the top of their shoulder, which is made entirely of muscle. This feature developed presumably to impart more force in digging, which helps during foraging and facilitates den construction prior to hibernation.<ref name="brown"/>
The brown bears found in coastal regions of Alaska and far eastern Russia are the largest. The largest subspecies is the ] (''U. a. middendorffi''), followed closely by the ] (''U. a. beringianus''), although bears from other coastal regions of eastern Asia and western North America can be comparably large. In these areas, the female averages from {{convert|181.4|to|318|kg|lb|abbr=on}} and the male averages from {{convert|272|to|635|kg|lb|abbr=on}}.<ref name= Smith/><ref name= FWS/> The maximum size of a Kodiak or brown bears in general is not certain. Exceptionally huge male Kodiaks can stand over {{convert|3|m|ft|abbr=on}} tall while on their hind legs and may exceed {{convert|1.5|m|ft|abbr=on|sigfig=1}} high at the shoulder.<ref name="factsheet">{{cite web |url=http://www.wildlife.alaska.gov/index.cfm?adfg=bears.trivia |publisher=Alaska Department of Fish and Game, Division of Wildlife Conservation |year=2008 |title=Kodiak Bear Fact Sheet |accessdate=27 October 2008|archiveurl=http://web.archive.org/web/20100320140013/http://www.wildlife.alaska.gov/index.cfm?adfg=bears.trivia|archivedate=10 March 2010}}</ref> The weight of these enormous bruins is less certain. The heaviest verified wild Kodiak bear weighed about 748&nbsp;kg (1,650&nbsp;lb), as per the Gerard Wood's 1983 publication for the Guinness Book of World Records.<ref name = "Wood">{{cite book | author = Wood, Gerald |url = | title =The Guinness Book of Animal Facts and Feats| year = 1983 | isbn = 978-0-85112-235-9}}</ref><ref>Busch, Robert H. ''The Grizzly Almanac''. New York, 2000, Lyons Press. ISBN 1-59228-320-9.</ref> Gary Brown, in his 1996 publication "The Great Bear Alamanc", claimed that the heaviest recorded brown bear weighed over {{convert|1150|kg|lb|sigfig=2}}, without going into further detail beyond mentioning it was of the Kamchatka brown bear subspecies rather than the Kodiak.<ref name="brown"/> David W. MacDonald, a well-respected biologist claimed in his guide to the "Mammals of Europe" (2002) while reviewing the species that it is not unusual for Kodiak bear males to weigh up to {{convert|680|kg|lb|abbr=on}} during ] and some specimens can attain {{convert|780|kg|lb|abbr=on}} or more in mass. MacDonald also mentions in this account that the Kodiak can attain a maximum mass of {{convert|1500|kg|lb|abbr=on}} although he again does not specify verifiable details.<ref name= Macdonald>{{cite book|year=1993|title=Mammals of Europe|publisher=Princeton University Press|location=New Jersey|page=107|isbn=0-691-09160-9|author=Macdonald, D.W.; Barrett, P.}}</ref>


==Distribution and habitat== ==Distribution and habitat==
{{main article|Distribution of brown bears}}
The brown bear currently occurs in ], Albania, Andorra (recently reoccupied), ], Azerbaijan, Belarus, Bhutan (possibly extinct), Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, ], ], Croatia, Czech Republic (possibly only vagrants), Estonia, ], France, Georgia, ], ], ], Islamic Republic of Iran, Italy, Japan, Kazakhstan, ], Kyrgyzstan, Latvia, Macedonia, Mongolia, Montenegro, Nepal, Norway, Pakistan, Poland, Romania, ], Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, ], Sweden, Tajikistan, ], Turkmenistan, Ukraine, ], and ].<ref name=IUCN/>
]


Brown bears inhabit the broadest range of habitats of any living bear species.<ref name="Hunter"/> They seem to have no altitudinal preferences and have been recorded from sea level to an elevation of {{cvt|5000|m}} in the ].<ref name="Hunter"/> In most of their range, brown bears seem to prefer semi-open country, with a scattering of vegetation, that can allow them a resting spot during the day. However, they have been recorded as inhabiting every variety of northern ] known to occur.<ref name="Hunter"/>
]]]
Brown bears were once native to much of Asia, the ] of Africa, Europe, and North America,<ref>{{cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/4003325.stm |title=Ancient bear made early migration |publisher=] |date=12 November 2004 |accessdate=2 January 2010}}</ref> but are now ] in some areas, and their populations have greatly decreased in other areas. There are approximately 200,000 brown bears left in the world.<ref name="Brown Bear | Species | WWF">{{cite web|title=Brown Bear {{!}} Species {{!}} WWF|url=http://worldwildlife.org/species/brown-bear|publisher=WWF}}</ref> The largest populations are in Russia with 120,000,<ref name="Brown Bear">{{cite web|title=Brown Bear|url=http://www.rollinghillswildlife.com/animals/b/bearbrown/|publisher=Rolling Hills Wildlife Adventure}}</ref> the United States with 32,500, and ] with around 25,000. In ], there are 14,000&nbsp;brown bears in ten fragmented populations, from ] (estimated at only 20–25 animals in the ] in 2010,<ref>{{cite web | url = http://www.elperiodico.cat/ca/noticias/societat/20100802/neixen-quatre-cries-dos-bru-als-pirineus/416750.shtml|date=2 August 2010|work=elperiodico.cat | title = Neixen quatre cries d'ós bru als Pirineus | accessdate = 19 November 2010 | language = Catalan; ]}}</ref><ref>{{cite web | url = http://www.ecologistasenaccion.org/article17611.html|date=May 2010|publisher=ecologistasenaccion.org | title = Situació preocupant de l'ós bru als Pirineus | accessdate = 19 November 2010 | language = Catalan}}</ref> in a range shared between ], ] and ], and some 210 animals in ], ], ] and ], in the ] and adjacent areas in 2013 <ref>{{cite web | url = http://www.abc.es/sociedad/20130929/abci-osos-desafio-poblacion-creciente-201309281954.html |work= ABC|location=Spain | title = Osos, el desafío de una población creciente| language = Spanish}}</ref> in the west, to ] in the east, and from ] and ] in the north to ] (4000–5000), ] (900–1200), ] (with about 600–800 animals), ] (500–700 animals) and ] (with about 200 animals) in the south. They are extinct in the ], extremely threatened in ] and ], and in trouble over most of ]. The Carpathian brown bear population of ] is the largest in Europe outside Russia, estimated at 4,500 to 5,000 bears, although declining alarmingly due to overhunting.<ref>{{cite web | url = http://proaction.tripod.com/localcampaigns/id26.html | archiveurl = http://web.archive.org/web/20040324084408/http://proaction.tripod.com/localcampaigns/id26.html | archivedate = 24 March 2004 | title = Proact Local Campaigns: Carpathian Brown Bear | accessdate = 19 November 2010 }}</ref> There is also a smaller brown bear population in the Carpathian Mountains in ] (estimated at about 200 in 2005), ] and ] (estimated at about 100 in 2009 in the latter country).<ref>{{cite web | url = http://carpathianbear.pl/en/projects/management-plan | archiveurl = http://web.archive.org/web/20110813050707/http://carpathianbear.pl/en/projects/management-plan | archivedate = 13 August 2011 | title = Carpathian Brown Bear Management Plan |publisher=carpathianbear.pl| accessdate = 19 November 2010 }}</ref> The total Carpathian population is estimated at about 8,000.<ref>{{cite web | url = http://wwf.panda.org/about_our_earth/species/profiles/mammals/brown_bear2/brownbear_population_distribution/|work=wwf.panda.org | title = Brown Bear – Population & Distribution: A Truly International Species| accessdate = 19 November 2010 }}</ref> ] is home to a large bear population, with an estimated 2,500 (range 2,350–2,900) in ], about 1,600 in ],<ref>{{cite web | url = http://web.archive.org/web/20141107235117/http://www.suurpedot.fi/www/fi/lajit/karhu/index.php |publisher=suurpedot.fi| title = Karhu | accessdate = 22 October 2010 | language = finnish}}</ref> about 700 in ] and 70 in ]. Another large and relatively stable population of brown bears in Europe, consisting of 2,500–3,000 individuals, is the Dinaric-Pindos (Balkans) population, with contiguous distribution in northeast ], ], ], ], ], ], ], ], ] and ].<ref>. Kora.ch. Retrieved 15 September 2011.</ref> Brown bears inhabited the mountains of Austria until as recently as 2011, after a reintroduction effort failed and the species became extinct again. There is currently no effort to reintroduce the species into Austria.<ref>{{cite web|title=Brown bears declared extinct in Austria - Again|url=http://www.wildlifeextra.com/go/news/austria-bears.html#cr|publisher=Wildlife Extra|accessdate=20 March 2015}}</ref>
This species inhabits the broadest range of habitats of any living bear species.<ref name="Hunter"/>
They seem to have no altitudinal preferences and have been recorded from sea-level to an elevation of {{convert|5000|m|ft|abbr=on}} (the latter in the ]).<ref name="Hunter"/> In most of their range, brown bears generally seems to prefer semiopen country, with a scattering of vegetation that can allow them a resting spot during the day. However, they have been recorded as inhabiting every variety of northern ] known to occur.<ref name="Hunter"/> North American brown bears, or ], generally seem to prefer open or semi-open landscapes, with the species once having been common on the ]s and continues to occur in sizeable numbers in ] and ] and ]s. Variable numbers still occur in ] areas of the northern ] (mostly in Canada but some in the contiguous United States).<ref name="Hunter"/> In western Eurasia, they inhabit mostly mountainous woodlands, in ranges such as the ], the ] and the ], though they may have been driven into more wooded, precipitous habitats due to the prior extensive persecution of the species in some regions.<ref name= Macdonald/><ref name="mari">{{cite pmid|20345670}}</ref> Desolate parts of northern and eastern Europe, like large patches of ] and the ], have always been quite heavily forested and have maintained relatively stable populations of bears, indicating that the brown bears here are well-adapted to forest-dwelling.<ref name="Hunter"/> In ], human disturbances are minimal as this area has a harsher environment and is more sparsely populated. In this part of the world, bears may be found in ], ] and even ]. In ], the species seems well-adapted to living in denser ]. Eastern Russian forests hold arguably the largest number of brown bears in the world outside of possibly Alaska and northeastern Canada.<ref name="Hunter"/> It is thought the Eurasian bears which colonized America were ]-adapted and the species is sometimes found around sub-Arctic ]s. This is indicated by brown bears in the ] on the Asian side of Bering Strait, which are the only Asian brown bears to live year-round in lowland tundra like their North American cousins.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.russianbearhunt.com/ |title=Brown Bear Hunting in Russia |publisher=Russianbearhunt.com |accessdate=10 October 2009}}</ref>


This species was once native to Europe, much of Asia, the ] of Africa, and North America,<ref>{{cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/4003325.stm |title=Ancient bear made early migration |work=] |date=12 November 2004 |access-date=2 January 2010 |archive-date=2 December 2005 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20051202023003/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/4003325.stm |url-status=live }}</ref> but are now ] in some areas, and their populations have greatly decreased in other areas. There are approximately 200,000 brown bears left in the world.<ref name="Brown Bear | Species | WWF">{{cite web|title=Brown Bear {{!}} Species {{!}} WWF|url=http://worldwildlife.org/species/brown-bear|publisher=WWF|access-date=2 December 2013|archive-date=29 September 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180929145303/https://www.worldwildlife.org/species/brown-bear|url-status=live}}</ref> The largest populations are in Russia with 130,000,<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Chestin |first1=Igor E. |last2=Gubar |first2=Yuliy P. |last3=Sokolov |first3=Vladimir E. |last4=Lobachev |first4=Vladimir S. |date=1992 |title=The brown bear (Ursus arctos L.) in the USSR: numbers, hunting and systematics |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/23735466 |journal=Annales Zoologici Fennici |volume=29 |issue=2 |pages=57–68 |jstor=23735466 |issn=0003-455X}}</ref> the United States with 32,500, and Canada with around 25,000. Brown bears live in ], east through the Yukon and ], south through ], and through the western half of ]. The Alaskan population is estimated at a healthy 30,000 individuals.<ref>{{cite web|title=Brown Bear Research in Alaska|url=http://www.adfg.alaska.gov/index.cfm?adfg=wildlifenews.view_article&articles_id=551|publisher=Alaska Department of Fish and Game|access-date=4 April 2012|archive-date=3 May 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120503000741/http://www.adfg.alaska.gov/index.cfm?adfg=wildlifenews.view_article&articles_id=551|url-status=live}}</ref> In the lower 48 states, they are repopulating slowly, but steadily along the Rockies and the western Great Plains.<ref>{{cite web| url = http://www.elperiodico.cat/ca/noticias/societat/20100802/neixen-quatre-cries-dos-bru-als-pirineus/416750.shtml| date = 2 August 2010| work = elperiodico.cat| title = Neixen quatre cries d'ós bru als Pirineus| access-date = 19 November 2010| language = ca, es| archive-date = 24 July 2011| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20110724152410/http://www.elperiodico.cat/ca/noticias/societat/20100802/neixen-quatre-cries-dos-bru-als-pirineus/416750.shtml| url-status = live}}</ref>
===North America===
The brown bear is usually called the grizzly bear in North America. It once ranged from Mexico to Alaska and from California to the East coast. It however has lost 98% of its habitat in the lower 48.


In Europe, in 2010, there were 14,000 brown bears in ten fragmented populations, from Spain (estimated at only 20–25 animals in the ] in 2010,<ref>{{cite web| url = http://www.ecologistasenaccion.org/article17611.html| date = May 2010| publisher = ecologistasenaccion.org| title = Situació preocupant de l'ós bru als Pirineus| access-date = 19 November 2010| language = ca| archive-date = 13 November 2012| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20121113211413/http://ecologistasenaccion.org/article17611.html| url-status = live}}</ref> in a range shared between Spain, France, and ], and some 210 animals in ], ], ], and ], in the ] and adjacent areas in 2013<ref>{{cite web|url= http://www.abc.es/sociedad/20130929/abci-osos-desafio-poblacion-creciente-201309281954.html|work= ABC|location= Spain|title= Osos, el desafío de una población creciente|date= 28 September 2013|language= es|access-date= 14 October 2013|archive-date= 26 October 2013|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20131026075553/http://www.abc.es/sociedad/20130929/abci-osos-desafio-poblacion-creciente-201309281954.html|url-status= live}}</ref>) in the west, to Russia in the east, and from Sweden and ] in the north to ] (5,000–6,000), ] (900–1,200), ] (with about 600–800 animals), ] (500–700 animals), and ] (with Karamanlidis et al. 2015 estimating >450 animals) in the south.<ref name="Pax-Romana">{{cite journal | year=2018 | issue=1 | volume=22 | publisher=] (] (ZSL)) | first3=D. | first2=J. | first1=A. | last2=Jiménez | issn=1367-9430 | journal=] | last3=Oro | last1=Martínez-Abraín | s2cid=89938098 | pages=3–13 | doi=10.1111/acv.12429 | title=Pax Romana: 'refuge abandonment' and spread of fearless behavior in a reconciling world| doi-access=free }}</ref><ref name="ARCTUROS">{{cite web | access-date=2022-10-13 | title=Bear | website=ΑΡΚΤΟΥΡΟΣ | url=https://www.arcturos.gr/en/animals/animalinner/?rid=2 | archive-date=2 February 2024 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240202162037/https://www.arcturos.gr/en/animals/animalinner/?rid=2 | url-status=live }}</ref> In Asia, brown bears are found primarily throughout Russia, thence more spottily southwest to parts of the Middle East, including the Eastern ], ] which has 5,432<ref name="ttt">{{cite web |last1=Başkaya |first1=E. |last2=Gündoğdu |first2=E. |last3=Başkaya |first3=Ş. |title=Brown Bear (''Ursus arctos'') Population Density in the Eastern Black Sea Mountains in Türkiye. |url=https://aloki.hu/pdf/2004_35813595.pdf |website=aloki.hu/ |publisher=Applied Ecology and Environmental Research 20(4):3581-3595 |access-date=6 July 2024}}</ref> individuals of brown bear, to as far south as southwestern ], and to the southeast in Northeast China. Brown bears are also found in Western ], ], ], ], ], and ]. A population of brown bears can be found on the Japanese island of ], which holds the largest number of non-Russian brown bears in eastern Asia, with about 2,000–3,000 animals.<ref name="Hunter">{{Cite book |last=Hunter |first=Luke |url=http://archive.org/details/carnivoresofworl0000hunt |title=Carnivores of the world |date=2011 |publisher=Princeton, NJ : Princeton University Press |others=Internet Archive |isbn=978-0-691-15228-8|pages=122–133}}</ref>
About 95% of the brown bear population in the United States is in Alaska, though in the lower 48 states, they are repopulating slowly but steadily along the ] and the western ]. Most brown bears live in ]. They range in good numbers east through the ] and ], south through ] and through the western half of ].


===Conservation status===
Almost all U.S. bears live in Alaska. The Alaskan population is estimated at 32,000 individuals.<ref>{{cite web|title=Brown Bear Research in Alaska|url=http://www.adfg.alaska.gov/index.cfm?adfg=wildlifenews.view_article&articles_id=551|publisher=Alaska Department of Fish and Game|accessdate=April 2012}}</ref> The largest other populations of brown bears are found in the 23,300-km2 ] and the 24,800-km2 Northern Continental Divide Ecosystem.<ref name="McLellan 1995">{{cite journal|last1=McLellan|first1=B.|title=Maintaining Viability of Brown Bears along the Southern Fringe of Their Distribution.|journal=Proceedings of the 10th international conference on bear research and management|date=1995|volume=10|pages=607–611|accessdate=24 May 2015}}</ref> Small populations exist in the ] of northwest ] (with about 600 animals), the Northern Continental Divide Ecosystem of northwest ] (with about 750 animals), the Cabinet-Yaak Ecosystem of northwest Montana and northeast ] (with about 30–40 animals), the Selkirk Ecosystem of northeast ] and northwest Idaho (with about 40–50 animals), and the North Cascades Ecosystem of northcentral Washington (with about 5–10 animals). These five ecosystems combine for a total of roughly 1,470 wild grizzlies still persisting in the contiguous United States. Unfortunately, these populations are isolated from each other, inhibiting any genetic flow between ecosystems.<ref name="McLellan 1995">{{cite journal|last1=McLellan|first1=B.|title=Maintaining Viability of Brown Bears along the Southern Fringe of Their Distribution.|journal=Proceedings of the 10th international conference on bear research and management|date=1995|volume=10|pages=607–611|accessdate=24 May 2015}}</ref> This poses one of the greatest threats to the future survival of the grizzly bear in the contiguous United States.<ref name="McLellan 1995">{{cite journal|last1=McLellan|first1=B.|title=Maintaining Viability of Brown Bears along the Southern Fringe of Their Distribution.|journal=Proceedings of the 10th international conference on bear research and management|date=1995|volume=10|pages=607–611|accessdate=24 May 2015}}</ref>
], with a range restricted to the ], Italy|left]]


While the brown bear's range has shrunk and it has faced local extinctions, it remains listed as a ] by the ], with a total population of approximately 200,000. {{as of|2012}}, the brown bear and the ] are the only bear species not classified as threatened by the IUCN.<ref name="iucn status 19 November 2021" /><ref name= Servheen>{{citation |editor-last1=Servheen |editor-first1=C. |editor-last2=Herrero |editor-first2=S. |editor-last3=Peyton |editor-first3=B. |editor-last4=Pelletier |editor-first4=K. |editor-last5=Moll |editor-first5=K. |editor-last6=Moll |editor-first6=J. |year=1999 |title=Bears: status survey and conservation action plan |volume=44 |location=] |publisher=] |url=http://www.carnivoreconservation.org/files/actionplans/bears.pdf |access-date=18 November 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150923200609/http://www.carnivoreconservation.org/files/actionplans/bears.pdf |archive-date=23 September 2015 |url-status=dead }}</ref> However, the ], ], ], and ], as well as brown bear populations in the ], were hunted to extinction in the 19th and early 20th centuries and many of the southern Asian subspecies are highly endangered.<ref name="Miller & Waits 2006">{{cite journal|last1=Miller|first1=C. R.|last2=Waits|first2=L. P.|title=Phylogeography and mitochondrial diversity of extirpated brown bear (''Ursus arctos'') populations in the contiguous United States and Mexico|journal=Mol. Ecol.|date=2006|volume=15|issue=#14|pages=4477–4485|doi=10.1111/j.1365-294x.2006.03097.x|pmid=17107477|bibcode=2006MolEc..15.4477M |s2cid=7336900}}</ref> The ] (''U. a. syriacus'') is very rare and it has been extirpated from more than half of its historic range.<ref name="Calvignac et al. 2009">{{cite journal|last1=Calvignac|first1=Sebastien|last2=Hughes|first2=Sandrine|last3=Hanni|first3=Catherine|title=Genetic diversity of endangered brown bear (''Ursus arctos'') populations at the crossroads of Europe, Asia and Africa|journal=Diversity and Distributions|date=2009|volume=15|issue=#5|pages=742–750|doi=10.1111/j.1472-4642.2009.00586.x|bibcode=2009DivDi..15..742C |s2cid=21666120 |doi-access=free}}</ref> One of the smallest-bodied subspecies, the ] (''U. a. isabellinus''), is critically endangered: it occupies only 2% of its former range and is threatened by uncontrolled poaching for its body parts.<ref name=enews> {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181016125912/https://www.euronews.com/2014/01/06/himalayan-brown-bears-now-critically-endangered |date=16 October 2018 }}. Euronews.com. 6 January 2014</ref> The ] in central Italy is believed to have a population of just 50 bears.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Gervasi |first1=V. |last2=Ciucci |first2=P. |date=2018-01-01 |title=Demographic projections of the Apennine brown bear population Ursus arctos marsicanus (Mammalia: Ursidae) under alternative management scenarios |url=https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/24750263.2018.1478003 |journal=The European Zoological Journal |language=en |volume=85 |issue=1 |pages=242–252 |doi=10.1080/24750263.2018.1478003 |issn=2475-0263|hdl=11573/1114254 |hdl-access=free }}</ref>
====Mexico====
Although many people hold the belief some brown bears may be present in ] they are almost certainly extinct.<ref name="Mattson & Merrill 2002">{{cite journal|last1=Mattson|first1=David J.|last2=Merrill|first2=Troy|title=Extirpations of Grizzly Bears in the Contiguous United States, 1850 –2000|journal=Conservation Biology|date=2002|volume=16|issue=4|pages=1123–1136|accessdate=18 March 2015}}</ref> The last Mexican grizzly bear was shot in 1976.<ref name="Gallo-Reynoso 1976">{{cite journal|last1=Gallo-Reynoso|first1=Juan-Pablo|last2=Van Devender|first2=Thomas|last3=Reina-Guerrero|first3=Ana Lilia|last4=Egido-Villarreal|first4=Janitzio|last5=Pfeiler|first5=Edward|title=Probable Occurrence of a Brown Bear (Ursus arctos) in Sonora, Mexico,|journal=The Southwestern Naturalist, 2008.|volume=53|issue=2|pages=256–260|url=http://www.bioone.org/doi/ full/10.1894/0038-4909%282008%2953%5B256%3APOOABB%5D2.0.CO %3B2|accessdate=19 March 2015}}</ref> None had been seen since 1960 prior.


The smallest populations are most vulnerable to ] and ], whereas the largest are primarily threatened by ]. The use of land for ] may negatively effect brown bears. Additionally, roads and ]s could pose a serious threat, as oncoming ]s may collide with crossing animals.<ref name="iucn status 19 November 2021" /> ] has been cited as another mortality factor.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Bischof |first1=Richard |last2=Swenson |first2=Jon E. |last3=Yoccoz |first3=Nigel G. |last4=Mysterud |first4=Atle |last5=Gimenez |first5=Olivier |date=May 2009 |title=The magnitude and selectivity of natural and multiple anthropogenic mortality causes in hunted brown bears |url=https://besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1365-2656.2009.01524.x |journal=Journal of Animal Ecology |language=en |volume=78 |issue=3 |pages=656–665 |doi=10.1111/j.1365-2656.2009.01524.x |pmid=19220565 |bibcode=2009JAnEc..78..656B |issn=0021-8790}}</ref> In one instance, a 3-year-long survey in the Russian Far East detected the illegal shipping of brown bear ]s to Southeast Asian countries. The purpose and motive behind the trade is unknown.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Chestin |first=Igor E. |date=1998 |title=Trade in Brown Bear Gall Bladders in Russia |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/3873123 |journal=Ursus |volume=10 |pages=161–166 |jstor=3873123 |issn=1537-6176}}</ref>
===Asia===
In Asia, brown bears are found primarily throughout ], thence more spottily southwest to parts of the ], to as far south as southwestern ], and to the southeast in a small area of ], ], and parts of ], ], ] and ].


An action plan in 2000 aimed to conserve brown bears in Europe by mitigating ], educating farm owners as to sustainable practices, and preserving and expanding remaining forests.<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Swenson |first1=Jon E. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=I9553WUdBnYC |title=Action Plan for the Conservation of the Brown Bear in Europe (Ursus Arctos) |last2=Europe |first2=Council of |date=2000-01-01 |publisher=Council of Europe |isbn=978-92-871-4426-3 |pages=1–10 |language=en}}</ref> Compensation was given to people who suffered losses of ], food supplies, or shelter.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Zedrosser |first1=Andreas |last2=Dahle |first2=Bjørn |last3=Swenson |first3=Jon E. |last4=Gerstl |first4=Norbert |date=2001 |title=Status and Management of the Brown Bear in Europe |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/3873224 |journal=Ursus |volume=12 |pages=9–20 |jstor=3873224 |issn=1537-6176}}</ref> Growing bear populations were recorded in some countries, such as Sweden, where an increase of 1.5% per annum occurred between the 1940s and 1990s.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Swenson |first1=Jon E. |last2=Sandegren |first2=Finn |last3=Bjärvall |first3=Anders |last4=Söderberg |first4=Arne |last5=Wabakken |first5=Petter |last6=Franzén |first6=Robert |date=1994 |title=Size, trend, distribution and conservation of the brown bear Ursus arctos population in Sweden |url=https://doi.org/10.1016/0006-3207(94)90293-3 |journal=Biological Conservation |volume=70 |issue=1 |pages=9–17 |doi=10.1016/0006-3207(94)90293-3 |bibcode=1994BCons..70....9S |issn=0006-3207}}</ref> Brown bears in ] are primarily threatened by ]. In response to this, conservationists plan on building ]s to promote easy access from one brown bear population to another.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Su |first1=Junhu |last2=Aryal |first2=Achyut |last3=Hegab |first3=Ibrahim M. |last4=Shrestha |first4=Uttam Babu |last5=Coogan |first5=Sean C. P. |last6=Sathyakumar |first6=Sambandam |last7=Dalannast |first7=Munkhnast |last8=Dou |first8=Zhigang |last9=Suo |first9=Yila |last10=Dabu |first10=Xilite |last11=Fu |first11=Hongyan |last12=Wu |first12=Liji |last13=Ji |first13=Weihong |date=December 2018 |title=Decreasing brown bear ( Ursus arctos ) habitat due to climate change in Central Asia and the Asian Highlands |journal=Ecology and Evolution |language=en |volume=8 |issue=23 |pages=11887–11899 |doi=10.1002/ece3.4645 |issn=2045-7758 |pmc=6303720 |pmid=30598784|bibcode=2018EcoEv...811887S }}</ref> In ] ], farmers may kill brown bears in revenge for livestock predation.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Aryal |first1=Achyut |last2=Raubenheimer |first2=David |last3=Sathyakumar |first3=Sambandam |last4=Poudel |first4=Buddi Sagar |last5=Ji |first5=Weihong |last6=Kunwar |first6=Kamal Jung |last7=Kok |first7=Jose |last8=Kohshima |first8=Shiro |last9=Brunton |first9=Dianne |date=September 2012 |title=Conservation Strategy for Brown Bear and Its Habitat in Nepal |journal=Diversity |language=en |volume=4 |issue=3 |pages=301–317 |doi=10.3390/d4030301 |doi-access=free |issn=1424-2818}}</ref>
====Japan====
Three distinct lineages of the Hokkaido brown bear (''Ursus arctos yesoensis L.'') can also be found on the ]ese island of ].<ref name="Nomura & Higashi 2002">{{cite journal|last1=Nomura|first1=Fuyuki|last2=Higashi|first2=Seigo|title=Effects of food distribution on the habitat usage of a female brown bear Ursus arctos yesoensis in a beech‐forest zone of northernmost Japan|journal=Ecological Research|date=2000|volume=15|issue=2|pages=209–217|accessdate=18 March 2015}}</ref><ref name="Hirata et al. 2013">{{cite journal|last1=Hirata|first1=Daisuke|title=Molecular Phylogeography of the Brown Bear (Ursus arctos) in Northeastern Asia Based on Analyses of Complete Mitochondrial DNA Sequences|journal=Mol Biol Evol.|date=2013|volume=30|issue=7|pages=1644–1652|doi=10.1093/molbev/mst077|url=http://mbe.oxfordjournals.org/content/early/2013/05/21/molbev.mst077.abstract|accessdate=18 March 2015|display-authors=etal}}</ref> Hokkaido has the largest number of non-Russian brown bears in eastern Asia with about 2,000–3,000 animals.<ref name="Hunter">''Carnivores of the World'' by Dr. Luke Hunter. Princeton University Press (2011), ISBN 9780691152288</ref>


==Behavior and life history==
===Africa===
]
Many people hold the belief some brown bears may be present in the ] of ] but there have been none sighted in the last century.


A 2014 study revealed that brown bears peaked in activity around the morning and early evening hours.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Ordiz |first1=Andrés |last2=Kindberg |first2=Jonas |last3=Sæbø |first3=Solve |last4=Swenson |first4=Jon E. |last5=Støen |first5=Ole-Gunnar |date=2014-05-01 |title=Brown bear circadian behavior reveals human environmental encroachment |url=https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0006320714001141 |journal=Biological Conservation |volume=173 |pages=1–9 |doi=10.1016/j.biocon.2014.03.006 |bibcode=2014BCons.173....1O |issn=0006-3207}}</ref> Although activity can happen day or night, bears that live in locations where they are apt to interact with humans are more likely to be fully nocturnal.<ref>{{cite journal|author1=Klinka, D. R. |author2=Reimchen, T. E. |title=Nocturnal and diurnal foraging behaviour of brown bears (''Ursus arctos'') on a salmon stream in coastal British Columbia|journal=Canadian Journal of Zoology|volume=80|issue=#8|pages=1317−1322 |doi=10.1139/z02-123|url=http://web.uvic.ca/~reimlab/noctdibrbear.pdf |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20221009/http://web.uvic.ca/~reimlab/noctdibrbear.pdf |archive-date=2022-10-09 |url-status=live|year=2002}}</ref>
In addition to the native ] the Romans apparently imported bears from Spain for spectacles with some escaping and founding a population in Africa.<ref name="ReferenceA"/>
In areas with little interaction, many adult bears are primarily ], while yearlings and newly independent bears appear to be most active throughout the day.<ref>{{cite journal |author1=Moe, T. F. |author2=Kindberg, J. |author3=Jansson, I. |author4=Swenson, J. E. |title=Importance of diel behaviour when studying habitat selection: examples from female Scandinavian brown bears (''Ursus arctos'') |journal=Canadian Journal of Zoology |volume=85 |issue=#4 |pages=518−525 |doi=10.1139/Z07-034 |url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/237154208 |year=2007 |access-date=12 December 2016 |archive-date=15 June 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200615041957/https://www.researchgate.net/publication/237154208_Importance_of_diel_behaviour_when_studying_habitat_selection_Examples_from_female_Scandinavian_brown_bears_Ursus_arctos |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|author1=Kaczensky, P. |author2=Huber, D. |author3=Knauer, F. |author4=Roth, H. |author5=Wagner, A. |author6=Kusak, J. |title=Activity patterns of brown bears (''Ursus arctos'') in Slovenia and Croatia|journal=Journal of Zoology |volume=269|issue=#4|pages=474−485 |doi=10.1111/j.1469-7998.2006.00114.x|year=2006}}</ref> From summer through autumn, a brown bear can double its weight from what it was in the spring, gaining up to {{Convert|180|kg|lb|abbr=on}} of fat, on which it relies to make it through winter, when it becomes lethargic.<ref>{{cite journal|author1=Kingsley, M. C. S. |author2=Nagy, J. A. |author3=Russell, R. H. |s2cid=90555276 |title=Patterns of weight gain and loss for grizzly bears in northern Canada|journal=Bears: Their Biology and Management |volume=5 |pages=174–178|jstor=3872535|doi=10.2307/3872535|year=1983}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|author1=Hissa, R. |author2=Hohtola, E. |author3=Tuomala-Saramäki, T. |author4=Laine, T. |author15= Kallio, H. |title=Seasonal changes in fatty acids and leptin contents in the plasma of the European brown bear (''Ursus arctos arctos'')|journal= Annales Zoologici Fennici |pages=215–224|jstor=23735612|volume=35|issue=#4|year=1998}}</ref> Although they are not full ] and can be woken easily, both sexes prefer to ] in a protected spot during the winter months.<ref>{{cite journal|author1=Farley, S. D. |author2=Robbins, C. T. |title=Lactation, hibernation, and mass dynamics of American black bears and grizzly bears|journal=Canadian Journal of Zoology |volume=73 |issue=#12|pages=2216−2222 |doi=10.1139/z95-262|year=1995}}</ref> Hibernation dens may be located at any spot that provides cover from the elements and that can accommodate their bodies, such as a cave, crevice, cavernous tree roots, or hollow logs.<ref>{{cite journal|author1=Evans, A. L. |author2=Sahlén, V. |author3=Støen, O. G. |author4=Fahlman, Å. |author5=Brunberg, S. |author6=Madslien, K. |author7=Forbert, O. |author8=Swenson, J. E. |author9=Arnemo, J. M. |title=Capture, anesthesia, and disturbance of free-ranging brown bears (''Ursus arctos'') during hibernation|journal=PLOS ONE |volume=7 |issue=#7 |page=e40520 |doi=10.1371/journal.pone.0040520 |pmid=22815757 |pmc=3398017|year=2012|bibcode=2012PLoSO...740520E|doi-access=free }}</ref>


Brown bears have one of the largest brains of any extant carnivoran relative to their body size and have been shown to engage in tool use, which requires advanced cognitive abilities.<ref>{{cite journal|author1=Deecke, V. B. |title=Tool-use in the brown bear (''Ursus arctos'')|journal=Animal Cognition|volume=15|issue=#4|pages=725–730|pmid=22367156|year=2012|doi=10.1007/s10071-012-0475-0|s2cid=9076161|url=http://insight.cumbria.ac.uk/id/eprint/1687/1/Deecke_ToolUseInTheBrownBear.pdf |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20221009/http://insight.cumbria.ac.uk/id/eprint/1687/1/Deecke_ToolUseInTheBrownBear.pdf |archive-date=2022-10-09 |url-status=live}}</ref> This species is mostly solitary, although bears may gather in large numbers at major food sources (e.g., open garbage dumps or rivers containing spawning ]) and form social hierarchies based on age and size.<ref name=":2">{{cite journal | last1 = Egbert | first1 = Allan L. | last2 = Stokes | first2 = Allen W. | url = http://www.bearbiology.com/fileadmin/tpl/Downloads/URSUS/Vol_3/Egbert_Stokes_Egbert_Vol_3.pdf | volume = 3 | pages = 41–56 | jstor = 3872753 | last3 = Egbert | first3 = A. L. | title = The Social Behaviour of Brown Bears on an Alaskan Salmon Stream | journal = Bears: Their Biology and Management | date = 16 September 1976 | doi = 10.2307/3872753 | access-date = 29 April 2011 | archive-date = 17 July 2015 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20150717075022/http://www.bearbiology.com/fileadmin/tpl/Downloads/URSUS/Vol_3/Egbert_Stokes_Egbert_Vol_3.pdf | url-status = dead }}</ref><ref>{{cite book|author=Sandell, M. |year=1989|chapter=The mating tactics and spacing patterns of solitary carnivores|title=Carnivore behavior, ecology, and evolution |pages= 164–182|publisher= Springer |isbn=978-1-4613-0855-3|doi=10.1007/978-1-4613-0855-3_7}}</ref> Adult male bears are particularly aggressive and are avoided by adolescent and subadult males, both at concentrated feeding opportunities and chance encounters. Females with cubs rival adult males in aggression and are much more intolerant of other bears than single females. Young adolescent males tend to be least aggressive and have been observed in nonantagonistic interactions with each other.<ref>{{cite journal|author1=Gau, R. J. |author2=McLoughlin, P. D. |author3=Case, R. |author4=Cluff, H. D. |author5=Mulders, R. |author6=Messier, F.|year=2004|title=Movements of subadult male grizzly bears, ''Ursus arctos'', in the central Canadian arctic|journal=The Canadian Field-Naturalist|volume=118|issue=#2|pages=239–242|doi=10.22621/cfn.v118i2.920|doi-access=free}}</ref><ref name= Dahle>{{cite journal|author1=Dahle, B. |author2=Swenson, J. E. |s2cid=67818528 |title=Seasonal range size in relation to reproductive strategies in brown bears ''Ursus arctos''|journal=Journal of Animal Ecology|volume=72|issue=#4|pages=660–667|doi=10.1046/j.1365-2656.2003.00737.x|jstor=3505643|year=2003|pmid=30893970 |bibcode=2003JAnEc..72..660D |doi-access=free}}</ref> ] between bears is asserted by making a frontal orientation, showing off canine teeth, muzzle twisting, and neck stretching, to which a subordinate will respond with a lateral orientation, by turning away and dropping the head, and by sitting or lying down.<ref name=":2" /> During combat, bears use their paws to strike their opponents in the chest or shoulders and bite the head or neck.<ref name=Egbert/>
===Europe & Eurasia===
The population of brown bears in the ] mountain range between ] and ] is extremely low, estimated at 14 to 18, with a shortage of females. Their rarity in this area has led biologists to release bears, mostly female, from ] in spring 2006 to reduce the imbalance and preserve the species' presence in the area. The bears were released despite protests from French farmers. A small population of brown bears ('']'') still lives in central Italy (], ] and ]), with no more than 70 individuals, protected by strong laws, but endangered by the human presence in the area.


===Communication===
In ] areas, the potential habitat of the brown bear is increasing. The ] has allowed the species to move farther north into what was once exclusively the domain of the ]. In non-Arctic areas, habitat loss is blamed as the leading cause of endangerment, followed by hunting.
{{listen
|filename = Yellowstone sound library - Grizzly Bear Eating - 003.mp3
|title = Brown bear sounds
|description = Brown bear sounds including huffing, jaw popping and growling
|format = ]
|filename2 = Yellowstone sound library - Grizzly Bear Eating - 002.mp3
|title2 = Brown bear roars
|description2 = Brown bears roaring over a carcass
|format2 = ]
}}


Several different facial expressions have been documented in brown bears. The "relaxed-face" is made during everyday activities, a face where the ears pointed to the sides and the mouth closed or slackly open. During social play, bears make "relaxed open-mouth face" in which the mouth is open, with a curled upper lip and hanging lower lip, and the ears alert and shifting. When looking at another animal at a distance, the bear makes an "alert face" as the ears are cocked and alert, the eyes wide open with the mouth is closed or only open slightly. The "tense closed mouth face" is made with the ears laid back and the mouth closed, and occurs when the bear feels threatened. When approached by another individual, the animal makes a "puckered-lip face" with a protruding upper lip and ears that go from cocked and alert when at a certain distance to laid back when closer or when retreating. The "jaw gape face" consists of an open mouth with visible lower canines and hanging lips while the "biting face" is similar to the "relaxed open-mouth face" except the ears are flattened and the eyes are wide enough to expose the ]. Both the "jaw gape face" and the "biting face" are made when the bear is aggressive and can quickly switch between them.<ref name=Egbert>{{cite thesis |author=Egbert, A. L. |pages=30–35, 46 |year=1978 |title=The Social Behavior of Brown Bears at McNeil River, Alaska |publisher=] |degree=] |url=https://digitalcommons.usu.edu/etd/2101/ |access-date=25 April 2021 |archive-date=2 February 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240202162031/https://digitalcommons.usu.edu/etd/2101/ |url-status=live }}</ref>
===Iran===
The brown bear occurs in Iran, Iraq and Turkey.<ref name="Boitani et al. 2008.">{{cite journal|last1=Boitani|first1=L.|last2=Cowling|first2=R.M.|last3=Dublin|first3=H.T.|title=Change the IUCN Protected Area Categories to Reflect Biodiversity Outcomes.|journal=PLoS Biology|date=2008|volume=6|issue=3|pages=436–438|url=http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/ journal.pbio.0060066|accessdate=27 April 2015}}</ref> At least 20-30 were present in northern Iran a few years ago.<ref name="Farhadinia & Valizadegan 2015">{{cite journal|last1=Farhadinia|first1=Mohammad Sadegh|last2=Valizadegan|first2=Negin|title=A preliminary baseline status of the Syrian Brown Bear Ursus arctos syriacus (Mammalia: Carnivora: Ursidae) in Golestanak, northern Iran.|journal=Journal of Threatened Taxa|date=2015|volume=7(1)|url=http://www.threatenedtaxa.in/index.php/JoTT/article/view/1787/3104}}</ref>


Brown bears also produce various vocalizations. Huffing occurs when the animal is tense, while woofing is made when alarmed. Both sounds are produced by exhalations, though huffing is harsher and is made continuously (approximately twice per second). ] and ]s are made when aggressive. Growling is "harsh" and "]" and can range from a simple ''grrr'' to a rumble. A rumbling growl can escalate to a roar when the bear is charging. Roaring is described as "thunderous" and can travel {{convert|2|km|abbr=on}}. Mothers and cubs wanting physical contact will bawl, which is heard as ''waugh!, waugh!''.<ref name=Egbert/>
==Conservation status==
While the brown bear's range has shrunk and it has faced local extinctions, it remains listed as a ] species by the ] with a total population of approximately 200,000. As of 2012, this and the ] are the only bear species not classified as threatened by the IUCN. However, the ], ], and ] subspecies were hunted to extinction in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, and many of the southern Asian subspecies are highly endangered. The ] (''Ursus arctos syriacus'') is very rare.<ref name="Calvignac et al. 2009">{{cite journal|last1=Calvignac|first1=Sebastien|last2=Hughes|first2=Sandrine|last3=Hanni|first3=Catherine|title=Genetic diversity of endangered brown bear (Ursus arctos) populations at the crossroads of Europe, Asia and Africa|journal=Diversity and Distributions|date=2009|volume=15|pages=742–750|doi=10.1111/j.1472-4642.2009.00586.x|url=http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1472-4642.2009.00586.x/full|accessdate=18 March 2015}}</ref> The smallest subspecies, the ], is critically endangered, occupying only 2% of its former range and threatened by uncontrolled poaching for its parts.<ref>. Euronews.com. 6 January 2014</ref> The ] in central ] is believed to have a population of just 30 to 40 bears.


===Home ranges===
The brown bear's principal range includes parts of ], ], ], ], the ] (mostly ]), ], ] and the ] region (especially ]),<ref name="White"/>
Brown bears usually inhabit vast home ranges; however, they are not highly territorial. Several adult bears roam freely over the same vicinity without contention, unless rights to a fertile female or food sources are being contested.<ref name="pasitschniak-arts1993mamsp"></ref><ref name= Dahle/> Despite their lack of traditional territorial behavior, adult males seem to have a "personal zone" within which other bears are not tolerated if they are seen.<ref name="Pearson">Pearson, A. M. (1975). ''The northern interior grizzly bear Ursus arctos L. '' Information Canada. p. 86</ref> Males always wander further than females, due to such behavior giving increasing access to both females and food sources. Females have the advantage of inhabiting smaller territories, which decreases the likelihood of encounters with male bears who may endanger their cubs.<ref name="pasitschniak-arts1993mamsp"></ref><ref name= Bellemain>{{cite journal|doi=10.1111/j.1439-0310.2006.01152.x|title=Mating Strategies in Relation to Sexually Selected Infanticide in a Non-Social Carnivore: The Brown Bear|url=http://bearproject.info/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/2006-A060-Bellemain-Mating-Strategies-in-relation-to-SSI.pdf |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20221009/http://bearproject.info/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/2006-A060-Bellemain-Mating-Strategies-in-relation-to-SSI.pdf |archive-date=2022-10-09 |url-status=live|journal=Ethology|volume=112|issue=#3|pages=238–246|year=2006|last1=Bellemain|first1=Eva|last2=Swenson|first2=Jon E.|last3=Taberlet|first3=Pierre|bibcode=2006Ethol.112..238B }}</ref>


In areas where food is abundant, such as coastal Alaska, home ranges for females and males are up to {{convert|24|km2|sqmi|abbr=on}} and {{convert|89|km2|sqmi|abbr=on}}, respectively. Similarly, in ], bears of the two sexes travel in relatively compact home ranges of {{convert|115|and|318|km2|sqmi|abbr=on}}. In ], home ranges for females are up to {{convert|281|km2|sqmi|abbr=on}} and up to {{convert|874|km2|sqmi|abbr=on}} for males. In ], the largest home range was recorded for adult males ({{convert|3,143|km2|sqmi|abbr=on|disp=semicolon}}).<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Pop|first1=Ioan Mihai|last2=Bereczky|first2=Leonardo|last3=Chiriac|first3=Silviu|last4=Iosif|first4=Ruben|last5=Nita|first5=Andreea|last6=Popescu|first6=Viorel Dan|last7=Rozylowicz|first7=Laurențiu|title=Movement ecology of brown bears (Ursus arctos) in the Romanian Eastern Carpathians|journal=Nature Conservation|volume=26|pages=15–31|doi=10.3897/natureconservation.26.22955|issn=1314-3301|year=2018|doi-access=free}}</ref> In the central Arctic of Canada, where food sources are quite scarce, home ranges range up to {{convert|2434|km2|sqmi|abbr=on}} for females and {{convert|8171|km2|sqmi|abbr=on}} for males.<ref name= Novak>Novak, M., Baker, J. A., Obbard, M. E.; Malloch, B. (1987). ''Wild furbearer management and conservation in North America''. Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources.</ref><ref name= Dahle/>
===Regional extinctions===
The brown bear is ] in: ], ], Belgium, ], Egypt; Germany; Hungary; Ireland, Israel; Jordan, Lebanon; Liechtenstein; Lithuania, Luxembourg, Mexico; Moldova; Monaco, Morocco; Netherlands, Palestinian Territory; Portugal; San Marino; Switzerland; Syrian Arab Republic, Tunisia, ], ]. (Possibly extinct in Bhutan.)<ref name=IUCN/>


==Behavior== ===Reproduction===
] in ], Finland]]
Although the brown bear is primarily ], it is frequently seen in morning and early evening hours.<ref name="Brown / Grizzly Bear Facts">{{cite web|title=Brown / Grizzly Bear Facts|url=http://www.bear.org/website/bear-pages/brown-or-grizzly-bear/68-brown-grizzly-bear-facts.html|publisher=North American Bear Center}}</ref> In summer through autumn, it can double its weight, gaining up to {{Convert|180|kg|lb|abbr=on}} of ], on which it relies to make it through winter, when it becomes very lethargic. Although they are not full ] and can be woken easily, both sexes like to ] in a protected spot, such as a ], crevice, or hollow log, during the winter months. Brown bears are mostly solitary, although they may gather in large numbers at major food sources (e.g., ] colonies, open garbage dumps or rivers holding spawning ]) and form social hierarchies based on age and size.<ref>{{cite journal | last1 = Egbert | first1 = Allan L. | last2 = Stokes | first2 = Allen W. | year = 1974 | title = The social behaviour of brown bears on an Alaskan salmon stream | url =http://www.bearbiology.com/fileadmin/tpl/Downloads/URSUS/Vol_3/Egbert_Stokes_Egbert_Vol_3.pdf | format=PDF | journal = International Conference Bear Res. and Manage | volume = 3 | pages = 41–56 | jstor=3872753 | last3 = Egbert | first3 = A. L. }}</ref> Adult male bears are particularly aggressive and are avoided by adolescent and subadult 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 least aggressive, and have been observed in nonantagonistic interactions with each other. ] between bears is asserted by making a frontal orientation, showing off canines, muzzle twisting and neck stretching to which a subordinate will respond with a lateral orientation, by turning away and dropping the head and by sitting or lying down.<ref>Stonorov, Derek and Stokes, Allen W. (1972) ''Panel 4: Bear Behaviour''</ref> During combat, bears use their paws to strike their opponents in the chest or shoulders and bite the head or neck. In his ''Great Bear Almanac'', Gary Brown lists 11 different sounds bears produce in 9 different contexts. Sounds expressing anger or aggravation include growls, roars, woofs, champs and smacks, while sounds expressing nervousness or pain include woofs, grunts, and bawls. Sows will bleat or hum when communicating with their cubs.<ref name="brown"/>


The ] occurs from mid-May to early July, shifting to later in the year the farther north the bears are found.<ref>{{cite journal|author1=Herrero, S. |author2=Hamer, D. |year=1977|title=Courtship and copulation of a pair of grizzly bears, with comments on reproductive plasticity and strategy|jstor=1379352|doi=10.2307/1379352|journal=Journal of Mammalogy|volume= 58|issue=#3|pages=441–444}}</ref> Brown bears are ], remaining with the same mate for a couple of days to a couple of weeks and mating multiply during the mating season. Outside of this narrow time frame, adult male and female brown bears show no sexual interest in each other.<ref name="pasitschniak-arts1993mamsp"></ref><ref name= Steyaert>{{cite journal|author1=Steyaert, S. M. |author2=Endrestol, A. |author3=Hacklaender, K. |author4=Swenson, J. E. |author5=Zedrosser, A. |year=2012|title=The mating system of the brown bear ''Ursus arctos''|doi=10.1111/j.1365-2907.2011.00184.x|journal= Mammal Review|volume= 42|issue=#1|pages=12–34}}</ref> Females mature sexually between the ages of four and eight.<ref name= Craighead/> Males first mate about a year later, when they are large and strong enough to compete with other males for mating rights.<ref name= White>{{cite journal|author1=White, D. J. |author2=Berardinelli, J. G. |author3=Aune, K. E. |year=1998|title=Reproductive characteristics of the male grizzly bear in the continental United States|jstor=3873161|journal=Ursus |volume=10|pages=497–501}}</ref> Males will try to mate with as many females as they can; usually a successful male will mate with two females in a span of one to three weeks.<ref name="Walker"/><ref name= White/> Similarly, adult female brown bears can mate with up to four, sometimes even eight, males while in oestrus (heat), potentially mating with two in a single day.<ref name= Ambarl>{{cite journal|author=Ambarlı, H. |title=Litter size and basic diet of brown bears (''Ursus arctos'', Carnivora) in northeastern Turkey|journal=Mammalia|volume=80|issue=2|doi=10.1515/mammalia-2014-0111|year=2016|s2cid=87968464}}</ref> Females come into ] every three to four years, with an outside range of 2.4 to 5.7 years. The ]s of a female in oestrus can attract several males via scent.<ref>{{cite journal|author1=Halloran, D. W. |author2=Pearson, A. M. |year=1972|title=Blood chemistry of the brown bear (''Ursus arctos'') from southwestern Yukon Territory, Canada|doi=10.1139/z72-112|pmid=5038730|journal=Canadian Journal of Zoology|volume= 50|issue=#6|pages=827–833}}</ref> Dominant males may try to sequester a female for her entire oestrus period of approximately two weeks, but usually are unable to retain her for the entire time.<ref name= Feldhamer/><ref name= Bellemain/> ] is prolonged and lasts for over 20 minutes.<ref name= Feldhamer/><ref>{{cite journal|author1=Craighead, J. J. |author2=Hornocker, M. G. |author3=Craighead, F. C. Jr |year=1969|title=Reproductive biology of young female grizzly bears|journal= J. Reprod. Fertil. |volume=Suppl. 6|pages= 447–475}}</ref>
==Home ranges==
Brown bears usually occur over vast home ranges, however they are not highly territorial. Several adult bears often roam freely over the same vicinity without issue unless rights to a fertile female or food sources are being contested. Males always cover more area than females each year and will try to mate with as many females as they can (although females are not monogamous either). In areas where food is abundant and concentrated, such as coastal Alaska, home ranges for females are up to {{convert|24|km2|sqmi|abbr=on}} and for males are up to {{convert|89|km2|sqmi|abbr=on}}. Similarly, in ], bears of the two sexes travel relatively compact home ranges of {{convert|115|km2|sqmi|abbr=on}} and {{convert|318|km2|sqmi|abbr=on}}. In ], home ranges for females are up to {{convert|281|km2|sqmi|abbr=on}} and up to {{convert|874|km2|sqmi|abbr=on}} for males. In the central Arctic of Canada, where food sources are quite sparse, home ranges range up to {{convert|2434|km2|sqmi|abbr=on}} in females and {{convert|8171|km2|sqmi|abbr=on}} in males.<ref name="Hunter"/>


]
A study of male-inherited ] ] sequence found that brown bears, over the past few 10,000 years, have shown strong ]<ref>{{cite doi|10.1093/molbev/msu109}}</ref> That study found surprisingly similar Y chromosomes in brown bear populations as far apart as Norway and coastal Alaska, indicating extensive ] across ] and ]. Notably, this contrasts with genetic signals from female-inherited ] (mtDNA), where brown bears of different geographic regions typically show strong differences in their mtDNA, a result of female ].


Males take no part in raising cubs – parenting is left entirely to the females.<ref name= Dahle/><ref>{{Cite book |last=Corbet |first=Gordon Barclay |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=GD4_AAAAYAAJ |title=The Terrestrial Mammals of Western Europe |date=1966 |publisher=Foulis |location=London, UK |pages=52–55 |language=en}}</ref> Through the process of ], a female's fertilized egg divides and floats freely in the uterus for six months. During winter dormancy, the fetus attaches to the ] wall. The cubs are born eight weeks later, while the mother sleeps. If the mother does not gain enough weight to survive through the winter while gestating, the embryo does not implant and is reabsorbed into the body.<ref name="Craighead">Craighead, J. J., Sumner, J. S., & Mitchell, J. A. (1995). "The grizzly bears of Yellowstone: their ecology in the Yellowstone ecosystem, 1959–1992". Island Press. pp. 21–56</ref><ref>{{cite journal |name-list-style=amp |author1=Tsubota, T. |author2=Kanagawa, H. |s2cid=84359252 |year=1993|title=Morphological Characteristics of the Ovary, Uterus and Embryo during the Delayed Implantation Period in the Hokkaido Brown Bear (''Ursus arctos yesoensis'')|journal=Journal of Reproduction and Development|volume= 39|issue=#4|pages=325–331|doi=10.1262/jrd.39.325|doi-access=free}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |name-list-style=amp |author1=Hensel, R. J. |author2=Troyer, W. A. |author3=Erickson, A. W. |year=1969|title=Reproduction in the female brown bear|jstor=3799836|journal=The Journal of Wildlife Management|pages= 357–365|volume=33|issue=#2 |doi=10.2307/3799836}}</ref> Litters consist of as many as six cubs, though litters of one to three are more typical.<ref>{{cite journal|url=http://www.bearbiology.com/fileadmin/tpl/Downloads/IBN_Newsletters/IBN_May_2005.pdf |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20221009/http://www.bearbiology.com/fileadmin/tpl/Downloads/IBN_Newsletters/IBN_May_2005.pdf |archive-date=2022-10-09 |url-status=live |author1=Pazetnov, V. A. |author2=Pazetnov, S. V. |name-list-style=amp |year=2005|title=Female brown bear with six cubs|journal= International Bear News |volume=14|issue=#2|page=17}}</ref> The size of a litter depends on factors such as geographic location and food supply.<ref name= Steyaert></ref> At birth, cubs are blind, toothless and hairless and may weigh {{convert|350|to|510|g|lb|abbr=on}}. There are records of females sometimes adopting stray cubs or even trading or kidnapping cubs when they emerge from hibernation (a larger female may claim cubs from a smaller one).<ref name="Hunter"/><ref>{{cite journal|author1=Erickson, A. W. |author2=Miller, L. H. |year=1963|title=Cub adoption in the brown bear|journal=Journal of Mammalogy|volume= 44 |issue=#4 |pages=584–585 |doi=10.2307/1377153 |jstor=1377153}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|url=https://pubs.er.usgs.gov/publication/1012856|author1=Barnes, V. Jr|author2=Smith, R.|year=1993|title=Cub adoption by brown bears (''Ursus arctos middendorffi'') on Kodiak Island, Alaska|journal=Canadian Field-Naturalist|volume=107|issue=3 |pages=365–367|doi=10.5962/p.357155 |access-date=12 December 2016|archive-date=20 December 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161220042307/https://pubs.er.usgs.gov/publication/1012856|url-status=live|doi-access=free}}</ref> Older and larger females within a population tend to give birth to larger litters.<ref>{{cite journal|author=Stringham, S. F. |year=1990|title=Grizzly bear reproductive rate relative to body size|journal=Bears: Their Biology and Management|volume=8|pages= 433–443|doi=10.2307/3872948|url=https://www.bearbiology.com/fileadmin/tpl/Downloads/URSUS/Vol_8/Stringham_Grizzly_8.pdf |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20221009/https://www.bearbiology.com/fileadmin/tpl/Downloads/URSUS/Vol_8/Stringham_Grizzly_8.pdf |archive-date=2022-10-09 |url-status=live|jstor=3872948}}</ref> The cubs feed on their mother's milk until spring or early summer, depending on climate conditions. At this time, the cubs weigh {{convert|7|to|9|kg|lb|abbr=on}} and have developed enough to follow and forage for solid food with their mother over long distances.<ref name="pasitschniak-arts1993mamsp"></ref><ref>{{cite journal|author1=Dahle, B. |author2=Zedrosser, A. |author3=Swenson, J. E. |year=2006|title=Correlates with body size and mass in yearling brown bears (''Ursus arctos'')|doi=10.1111/j.1469-7998.2006.00127.x|journal=Journal of Zoology|volume= 269|issue=#3|pages=273–283}}</ref>
==Reproduction==
The ] is from mid-May to early July.<ref name="Hunter"/> Being ], brown bears remain with the same mate from several days to a couple of weeks.<ref> – Information on Specific Bear Species (2009)</ref> 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.<ref name="Hunter"/>
] in ]]] Males, however, take no part in raising their cubs – parenting is left entirely to the females.


]
Through the process of ], a female's fertilized egg divides and floats freely in the uterus for six months. During winter dormancy, the fetus attaches to the ] wall. The cubs are born eight 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 is reabsorbed into the body. The average litter has one to four cubs, usually two. There have been cases of bears with as many as six cubs.<ref name="Hunter"/> There are records of females sometimes adopting stray cubs or even trading cubs when they emerge from hibernation.<ref name="Hunter"/> 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 {{Convert|450|g|lb|sigfig=1}}. They feed on their mother's milk until spring or even early summer, depending on climate conditions. At this time, the cubs weigh {{Convert|7|to|9|kg|lb|abbr=on}} and have developed enough to follow her and begin to forage for solid food.


The cubs are dependent on the mother and a close bond is formed. During the dependency stage, the cubs learn (rather than inherit as instincts from birth) 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.<ref name= Novak/> Increased brain size in large carnivores has been positively linked to whether a given species is solitary, as is the brown bear, or raises offspring communally. Thus, the relatively large, well-developed brain of a female brown bear is presumably key in teaching behavior.<ref>{{cite journal|pmid=8202515|pmc=44022 |author=Gittleman, J. L. |year=1994|title=Female brain size and parental care in carnivores|journal=Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences|volume=91|issue=#12|pages=5495–5497|bibcode=1994PNAS...91.5495G|doi=10.1073/pnas.91.12.5495|doi-access=free }}</ref> The cubs learn by following and imitating their mother's actions during the period they are with her.<ref name="Hunter" /> Cubs remain with their mother for an average of 2.5 years in North America, and gain independence from as early as 1.5 years of age to as late as 4.5 years.<ref name= Feldhamer/> The stage at which independence is attained may generally be earlier in some parts of ], as the latest date which mother and cubs were together was 2.3 years. Most families separated in under two years in a study in ], and in Sweden most yearlings were their own.<ref name=mano>{{cite journal|author1=Mano, T. |author2=Tsubota, T. |year=2002|title=Reproductive characteristics of brown bears on the Oshima peninsula, Hokkaido, Japan|jstor=1383508|doi=10.1644/1545-1542(2002)083<1026:RCOBBO>2.0.CO;2|journal=Journal of Mammalogy|volume= 83|issue=#4|pages=1026–1034|doi-access=free}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|author1=Dahle, B. |author2=Swenson, J. E. |year=2003|title=Family breakup in brown bears: are young forced to leave?|doi=10.1644/1545-1542(2003)084<0536:FBIBBA>2.0.CO;2|journal= Journal of Mammalogy|volume= 84|issue=#2|pages=536–540|doi-access=free}}</ref> Brown bears practice ], as an adult male bear may kill the cubs of another.<ref name= Bellemain/> When an adult male brown bear kills a cub, it is usually because he is trying to bring the female into oestrus, as she will enter that state within two to four days after the death of her cubs.<ref name= Bellemain/> Cubs may flee up a tree when they see a strange male bear approaching. The mother often successfully defends them, even though the male may be twice as heavy as she. However, females have been known to die in such confrontations.<ref name= Bellemain/><ref>{{cite journal|author1=Swenson, J. E.|author2=Dahle, B.|author3=Sandegren, F.|year=2001|title=Intraspecific predation in Scandinavian brown bears older than cubs-of-the-year|journal=Ursus|pages=81–91|jstor=3873233|url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/237374836|volume=12|access-date=12 December 2016|archive-date=16 November 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171116185901/https://www.researchgate.net/publication/237374836_Intraspecific_predation_in_Scandinavian_brown_bears_older_than_cubs-of-year|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="Mörner">{{cite journal|author1=Mörner, T. |author2=Eriksson, H. |author3=Bröjer, C. |author4=Nilsson, K. |author5=Uhlhorn, H. |author6=Ågren, E. |author7=Segerstad, C. H. |author8=Jansson, D. S. |author9=Gavier-Widén, D. |year=2005|title=Diseases and mortality in free-ranging brown bear (''Ursus arctos''), gray wolf (''Canis lupus''), and wolverine (''Gulo gulo'') in Sweden|journal=Journal of Wildlife Diseases|volume= 41|issue=#2|pages=298–303|pmid=16107663|doi=10.7589/0090-3558-41.2.298|s2cid=43774546 |doi-access=free}}</ref>
Cubs remain with their mother from two to four years (exceptionally to 4 and a half 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.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.shadowofthebear.com/reproduction.html |title=Brown Bear Reproduction |publisher=Shadowofthebear.com |accessdate=10 October 2009 |archiveurl = http://web.archive.org/web/20080501092730/http://www.shadowofthebear.com/reproduction.html |archivedate = 1 May 2008}}</ref> Brown bears practice ].<ref>{{cite journal | doi = 10.1111/j.1439-0310.2006.01152.x | title = Mating Strategies in Relation to Sexually Selected Infanticide in a Non-Social Carnivore: The Brown Bear | year = 2006 | last1 = Bellemain | first1 = Eva | last2 = Swenson | first2 = Jon E. | last3 = Taberlet | first3 = Pierre | journal = Ethology | volume = 112 | issue = 3 | pages = 238–246 }}</ref> An adult male bear may kill the cubs of another bear either to make the female sexually receptive or simply for consumption. Cubs flee up a tree when they see a strange male bear, and the mother often successfully defends them, even though the male may be twice as heavy as she.


===Dietary habits===
==Longevity==
{{Main|Dietary biology of the brown bear}}
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, the oldest known age for reproduction in the wild of any ursid.<ref name="Hunter"/> Males commonly can live to 25 years, with the oldest female having been 37 years old. The species can live to 48 years of age in captivity. Annual mortality for bears of any age is estimated at around 10% in most protected areas.<ref name="Hunter"/> However, in hunted populations, an estimated average mortality rate of 38% is given.<ref name="Hunter"/> Around 13% to 44% of cubs die within their first year. Beyond predation by other large predators (rarely by ] or ]s (''Panthera tigris altaica'')) and brown bears, starvation and accidents claim a few cubs. Even in populations living in protected areas without legal, non-governmental hunting, though, humans are still the leading cause of mortality for brown bears.<ref name="Brown Bear Hunting Alaska">{{cite web|title=Brown/Grizzly Bear Hunting in Alaska|url=http://www.adfg.alaska.gov/index.cfm?adfg=brownbearhunting.main|publisher=Alaska Department of Fish and Game}}</ref> The largest number of legally hunting on the species occurs in ], ], ], ] and ].<ref name="Hunter"/>
]]]


The brown bear is one of the most ] animals and has been recorded as consuming the greatest variety of foods of any bear.<ref name="Hunter"/> Despite their reputation, most brown bears are not highly carnivorous, as they derive up to 90% of their dietary ] from vegetable matter.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.dced.state.ak.us/oed/student_info/learn/bearwatching.htm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090415202025/http://www.dced.state.ak.us/oed/student_info/learn/bearwatching.htm |archive-date=15 April 2009 |title=Alaska is bear territory!|work=Alaska Office of Economic Development |publisher=Dced.state.ak.us |access-date=10 October 2009}}</ref> They often feed on a variety of plant life, including ], grasses, ]s, ]s, and ]s, as well as fungi such as ]s.<ref name="pasitschniak-arts1993mamsp"></ref> Among all bears, brown bears are uniquely equipped to dig for tough foods such as ]s, ]s,<ref name="Ursus arctos Brown bear">{{Cite web|url=https://animaldiversity.org/accounts/Ursus_arctos/|title=Ursus arctos (Brown bear)|website=]|access-date=28 May 2021|archive-date=13 May 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210513130048/http://animaldiversity.org/accounts/Ursus_arctos/|url-status=live}}</ref> and ]s. They use their long, strong claws to dig out earth to reach roots and their powerful jaws to bite through them.<ref name="pasitschniak-arts1993mamsp"></ref> In spring, winter-provided carrion, grasses, shoots, ], ],<ref name="Ursus arctos Brown bear"/> and ]s are the dietary mainstays for brown bears internationally.<ref name="Hunter"/> Fruits, including berries, become increasingly important during summer and early autumn. Roots and bulbs become critical in autumn for some inland bear populations if fruit crops are poor.<ref name="Hunter"/>
==Dietary habits==
]]]
The Brown Bear is one of the most ] animals in the world and has been recorded as consuming the greatest variety of foods of any bear.<ref name="Hunter"/> Throughout life, this species 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. Their jaw structure has evolved to fit their dietary habits. Their diet varies enormously throughout their differing areas based on opportunity.


]
Despite their reputation, most brown bears are not highly carnivorous, as they derive up to 90% of their dietary ] from vegetable matter.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.dced.state.ak.us/oed/student_info/learn/bearwatching.htm |archiveurl=http://web.archive.org/web/20090415202025/http://www.dced.state.ak.us/oed/student_info/learn/bearwatching.htm |archivedate=15 April 2009 |title=Alaska is bear territory!|work=Alaska Office of Economic Development |publisher=Dced.state.ak.us |accessdate=10 October 2009}}</ref> They often feed on a variety of plant life, including ], ]es, ]s, ]s (''Quercus'' ssp.) and ]s as well as ] such as ]s.<ref name= Smith/> Among all bears, brown bears are uniquely equipped to dig for tough foods such as ]s and ]s. They use their long, strong claws to dig out earth to reach the roots and their powerful jaws to bite through them.<ref name= Smith/> In spring, winter-provided carrion, grasses, shoots, sedges and forbs are the dietary mainstays for brown bears internationally.<ref name="Hunter"/> Fruits, including berries, become increasingly important during summer and early autumn. Roots and bulbs become critical in autumn for some inland bear populations if fruit crops are poor.<ref name="Hunter"/> They will also commonly consume animal matter, which in summer and autumn may regularly be in the form of ]s, ] and ], including ]s. Bears in Yellowstone eat an enormous number of ]s during the summer, sometimes as many as 40,000 ] (''Euxoa auxiliaris'') in a single day, and may derive up to half of their annual food energy from these insects.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.yellowstonepark.com/MoreToKnow/ShowNewsDetails.aspx?newsid=163 |title=Yellowstone Grizzly Bears Eat 40,000 Moths a Day In August |publisher=Yellowstonepark.com |date=21 June 2011}}</ref> Brown bears living near coastal regions will regularly eat ]s and ]s. In Alaska, bears along the beaches of estuaries regularly dig through the sand for clams.<ref name="brown"/> This species may eat ]s and their ]s, including almost entirely ground- or rock-nesting species, ranging from ] (''Lagopus'' ssp.) to ]s (''Haliaeetus pelagicus'').<ref name="brown"/><ref name= Gau>Gau, R. J., Case, R., Penner, D. F., & McLoughlin, P. D. (2002). ''Feeding patterns of barren-ground grizzly bears in the central Canadian Arctic''. Arctic, 339-344.</ref><ref>McGrady, M. J., Potapov, E., & Utekhina, I. (1999). ''Brown bear (Ursus arctos) feeds on Steller's Sea Eagle (Haliaeetus pelagicus) nestling''. Journal of Raptor Research, 33(4), 342-343.</ref> The diet may be supplemented by ]s or similar smallish ]s, including ]s (''Lepus'' ssp.), ]s (''Marmota'' ssp.), ]s, ], ]s, ]s and ]s.<ref name= Smith/><ref name="brown"/><ref name= Gau/> With particular regularity, bears in ] will wait at burrows of ]s (''Spermophilus parryii'') hoping to pick off a few of the {{convert|1|kg|lb|abbr=on}} rodents.<ref name="Brown">{{cite web|url=http://www.weaselwords.com/page/ferret_art036.php|title=Inherited behavior traits of the domesticated ferret|last=Brown|first=Susan, A|publisher=weaselwords.com|accessdate=29 January 2010}}</ref>


They will also commonly consume animal matter, which in summer and autumn may regularly be in the form of insects, ], and ], including ]s. Bears in Yellowstone eat an enormous number of ]s during the summer, sometimes as many as 40,000 ] moths in a single day, and may derive up to half of their annual food energy from these insects.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.yellowstonepark.com/MoreToKnow/ShowNewsDetails.aspx?newsid=163 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100715011549/http://www.yellowstonepark.com/moretoknow/shownewsdetails.aspx?newsid=163 |url-status=dead |archive-date=15 July 2010 |title=Yellowstone Grizzly Bears Eat 40,000 Moths a Day In August |publisher=Yellowstonepark.com |date=21 June 2011}}</ref> Brown bears living near coastal regions will regularly eat crabs and ]s. In Alaska, bears along the beaches of estuaries regularly dig through the sand for clams.<ref name="brown"/> This species may eat birds and their ]s, including almost entirely ground- or rock-nesting species.<ref name="brown"/> The diet may be supplemented by ]s or similar small ]s, including ]s, ]s, ], rats, ]s, and ]s.<ref name="pasitschniak-arts1993mamsp"></ref> With particular regularity, bears in ] will wait at burrows of ]s, hoping to pick off a few of those {{convert|1|kg|lb|abbr=on}} rodents.<ref name="Brown">{{cite web |last=Brown |first=Susan A. |title=Inherited behavior traits of the domesticated ferret |url=http://www.weaselwords.com/page/ferret_art036.php |date=17 January 2010 |orig-date=2002 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091004091445/http://www.weaselwords.com/page/ferret_art036.php |archive-date=4 October 2009 |url-status=live |magazine=Off the Paw |issue=November/December 2002 |via=WeaselWords.com |access-date=16 October 2024}}</ref>
In the Kamchatka peninsula and several parts of coastal Alaska, brown bears feed mostly on spawning ], whose nutrition and abundance explain the enormous size of the bears in these areas. The fishing techniques of bears are well-documented. They often congregate around falls when the salmon are forced to breach the water, at which point the bears will try to catch the fish in mid-air (often with their mouths). They will also wade into shallow waters, hoping to pin a slippery salmon with their claws. While they may eat almost all the parts of the fish, bears at the peak of spawning, when there is usually a glut of fish to feed on, may eat only the most nutrious parts of the salmon (including the eggs and head) and then indifferently leave the rest of the carcass to scavengers, which can include ]es, ]s, ]s and ]s. Despite their normally solitary habits, Brown bears will gather rather closely in numbers at good spawning sites. The largest and most powerful males claim the most fruitful fishing spots and bears (especially males) will sometimes fight over the rights to a prime fishing spot.<ref name="brown"/>


In the Kamchatka peninsula and several parts of coastal Alaska, brown bears feed mostly on spawning ], whose nutrition and abundance explain the enormous size of the bears in those areas. The fishing techniques of bears are well-documented. They often congregate around falls when the salmon are forced to breach the water, at which point the bears will try to catch the fish in mid-air (often with their mouths). They will also wade into shallow water, hoping to pin a slippery salmon with their claws. While they may eat almost all the parts of the fish, bears at the peak of salmon spawning, when there is usually a glut of fish to feed on, may eat only the most nutrious parts of the salmon (including the eggs and head) and then indifferently leave the rest of the carcass to scavengers, which can include ]es, ]s, ]s, and ]s. Despite their normally solitary habits, brown bears will gather closely in numbers at good spawning sites. The largest and most powerful males claim the most fruitful fishing spots and will sometimes fight over the rights to them.<ref name="brown"/>
Beyond the regular predation of salmon, most brown bears are not particularly active predators.<ref name="brown"/> While perhaps a majority of bears of the species will charge at large prey at one point in their lives and most eat carrion, many predation attempts start with the bear clumsily and half-heartedly pursuing the prey and end with the prey escaping alive.<ref name="brown"/> On the other hand, some brown bears are quite self-assured predators who habitually pursue and catch large prey items. Such bears are usually taught how to hunt by their mothers from an early age.<ref name="brown"/> Large mammals preyed on can include various ] species such as ] (''Cervus canadensis''), ] (''Cervus elaphus''), ] (''Axis axis''), ] (''Capreolus capreolus''), ] (''Capreolus pygargus''), ] (''Dama dama''), ] (''Odocoileus hemionus''), ] (''Odocoileus virginianus''), ] (''Alces alces'') and ] (''Rangifer tarandus''). ]s are also regular prey including various ], ]s, ], ] (''Bison'' ssp.) and ] (''Ovibos moschatus''), as are ]s (''Sus scrofa'').<ref name= Smith/> When brown bears attack these large animals, they usually target young or infirm ones, as they are easier to catch. Typically when hunting (especially with young prey), the bear pins its prey to the ground and then immediately tears and eats it alive.<ref>{{cite journal | last1=French |first1= S. P. |last2= French |first2=M. G. |title=Predatory behavior of grizzly bears feeding on elk calves in Yellowstone National Park, 1986–1988 |year= 1990 |journal=International Conf. Bear Res. and Manage | volume= 8|pages= 335–341|url=http://www.bearbiology.com/fileadmin/tpl/Downloads/URSUS/Vol_8/French_French_8.pdf | format = PDF | doi=10.2307/3872937}}</ref> In northeastern ], it was found that moose were the most important single food item (present in up to 45% of scats and locally comprising more than 70% of the bear's dietary energy) for local brown bears and several local bears appear to be specialized moose hunters, most often picking off sickly yearling moose and pregnant but healthy cows.<ref>Persson, I. L., Wikan, S., Swenson, J. E., & Mysterud, I. (2001). ''The diet of the brown bear Ursus arctos in the Pasvik Valley, northeastern Norway''. Wildlife Biology, 7(1), 27-37.</ref> In a study from ], grizzly bears who derived much of the food energy from ungulates were studied, 30% of the ungulates consumed were through predation, the remaining amount from scavenging of carcasses, elk, bison and moose (the 3 largest native ungulates in the region) each nearly comprised a quarter each of the overall ungulate diet. 13% of the total ungulates actively hunted and killed per that study in Yellowstone were elk calves, while 8% of the actively and successfully hunted prey there were adult cow elk.<ref>Mattson, D. J. (1997). ''Use of ungulates by Yellowstone grizzly bears Ursus arctos''. Biological Conservation, 81(1), 161-177.</ref> On one occasion in Yellowstone, a female grizzly bear with two cubs was exceptionally observed to successfully prey on an adult bull bison.<ref>Wyman, T. (2002). ''Grizzly bear predation on a bull bison in Yellowstone National Park''. Ursus, 375-377.</ref> Brown bears will also bite or swipe some prey in order to stun it enough to knock it over for consumption.<ref name= Macdonald/> To pick out young or infirm individuals, bears will charge at herds so the slower-moving and more vulnerable individuals will be made apparent. Brown bears may also ambush young animals by finding them via scent.<ref name= Smith/> When emerging from hibernation, brown bears, whose broad paws allow them to walk over most ice and snow, may pursue large prey such as moose whose hooves cannot support them on encrusted snow.<ref name= Macdonald/> Similarly, predatory attacks on large prey sometimes occur at riverbeds, when it is more difficult for the prey specimen to run away due to muddy or slippery soil.<ref name= Smith/> On rare occasions, while confronting fully-grown, dangerous prey, bears kill them by hitting with their powerful forearms, which can break the necks and backs of large creatures such as adult moose and adult bison.<ref name="brown"/> They also feed on ], and use their size to intimidate other predators, such as ], ]s (''Puma concolor''), ]s, and ]s from their kills. Carrion is especially important in the early spring (when the bears are emerging from hibernation), much of it comprised by winter-killed big game.<ref name= Smith/> Cannibalism is not unheard of, though predation is not normally believed to be the primary motivation when brown bears attack each other.<ref name="brown"/>


], Alaska]]
When forced to live in close proximity with humans and their domesticated animals, bears may potentially predate any type of domestic animal. Among these, domestic ] (''Bos primigenius taurus'') are sometimes exploited as prey. Cattle are bitten on the neck, back or head and then the abdominal cavity is opened for eating.<ref name= Smith/> In ], free-ranging ] (''Ovis aries'') are numerous and the local brown bears derive 65-87% of their dietary energy in late summer from sheep. Due to the vulnerability of this prey, examination of sheep remains suggest many of the sheep consumed there are adults that were killed by the bears rather than merely scavenged, and thus some local farmers received partial compensation for their stock losses. In nearby northern Sweden, free-ranging sheep are not present and the bear derive their food predominantly from natural sources.<ref>Dahle, B., Sørensen, O. J., Wedul, E. H., Swenson, J. E., & Sandegren, F. (1998). ''The diet of brown bears Ursus arctos in central Scandinavia: effect of access to free-ranging domestic sheep Ovis aries''. Wildlife biology, 4(3), 147-158.</ref> Plants and fruit farmed by humans are readily consumed as well, including ] (''Zea mays ''), ] (''Triticum'' spp.), ] (''Sorghum'' ssp.), ]s and any form of ].<ref name="brown"/> They will also feed at domestic ], readily consuming both honey and the contents of the ] (''Apis mellifera'') colony.<ref name="brown"/> Human foods and trash or refuse is eaten when possible. When an open garbage dump was kept in Yellowstone, brown bears were one of the most voracious and regular scavengers. The dump was closed after both brown and American black bears came to associate humans with food and lost their natural fear of them.<ref name="brown"/>


Beyond the regular predation of salmon, most brown bears are not particularly active predators.<ref name="brown"/> While perhaps a majority of bears of the species will charge at large prey at one point in their lives, many predation attempts start with the bear clumsily and half-heartedly pursuing the prey and end with the prey escaping alive.<ref name="brown"/> On the other hand, some brown bears are quite self-assured predators who habitually pursue and catch large prey. Such bears are usually taught how to hunt by their mothers from an early age.<ref name="brown"/> Large mammals preyed on can include various ] species such as ], ], ], ]en, and ].<ref name="pasitschniak-arts1993mamsp"></ref> When brown bears attack these large animals, they usually target young or infirm ones, which are easier to catch. Typically when hunting (especially young prey), the bear pins its prey to the ground and then immediately tears at and eats it alive.<ref>{{cite journal | last1=French |first1= S. P. |last2= French |first2=M. G. |title=Predatory behavior of grizzly bears feeding on elk calves in Yellowstone National Park, 1986–1988 |year= 1990 |journal=International Conf. Bear Res. And Manage | volume= 8|pages= 335–341|url=http://www.bearbiology.com/fileadmin/tpl/Downloads/URSUS/Vol_8/French_French_8.pdf |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20221009/http://www.bearbiology.com/fileadmin/tpl/Downloads/URSUS/Vol_8/French_French_8.pdf |archive-date=2022-10-09 |url-status=live | doi=10.2307/3872937|jstor= 3872937 }}</ref> It will also bite or swipe some prey to stun it enough to knock it over for consumption.<ref name= Macdonald>{{cite book|year=1993|title=Mammals of Europe|publisher=Princeton University Press|location=New Jersey|page=|isbn=978-0-691-09160-0|author1=Macdonald, D. W.|author2=Barrett, P.|url=https://archive.org/details/mammalsofeurope00macd/page/107}}</ref> In general, large mammalian prey is killed with raw strength and bears do not display the specialized killing methods of felids and canids.<ref name=Sacco2004>{{cite journal|last1=Sacco|first1=T|last2=Van Valkenburgh|first2=B|year=2004|title=Ecomorphological indicators of feeding behaviour in the bears (Carnivora: Ursidae)|journal=Journal of Zoology|volume=263|issue=1|pages=41–54|doi=10.1017/S0952836904004856}}</ref> To pick out young or infirm individuals, bears will charge at herds so the more vulnerable, and thus slower-moving, individuals will become apparent. Brown bears may ambush young animals by finding them via scent.<ref name="pasitschniak-arts1993mamsp"></ref>
===Interspecific predatory relationships===
]]]
], Vladivostok Museum]]
Adult bears are generally immune to predatory attacks except from tigers and other bears. ]s prefer preying on young bears but fully grown adult female brown bears outside their dens may also be taken.<ref name="amur">{{cite book |title=Amur tiger |author=David Prynn |publisher=Russian Nature Press |year=2004 |pages=115}}</ref><ref name=FBW>{{cite book| author=Frasef, A.| year=2012| title=Feline Behaviour and Welfare| publisher=CABI| pages=72–77 |isbn=978-1-84593-926-7}}</ref><ref name="Denning">{{cite journal |url=http://www.wcsrussia.org/DesktopModules/Bring2mind/DMX/Download.aspx?EntryId=3313&PortalId=32&DownloadMethod=attachment |author=Seryodkin |year=2003 |title=Denning ecology of brown bears and Asiatic black bears in the Russian Far East |journal=Ursus |volume=14 |issue=2 |pages=159|display-authors=etal}}</ref> Of 44 recorded encounters between the two predators, 20 resulted in confrontations; in 50% of these, the brown bears were killed, in 27% the tigers were killed, and 23% of the cases ended with both animals surviving and parting ways.<ref>{{cite book |title = 20th International Conference on Bear Research & Management |chapter = Intraspecific relationships between brown bears, Asiatic black bears and the Amur tiger |author=Seryodkin, I. V.; Goodrich, J. M.; Kostyria, A. V.; Smirnov, E. N.; Miquelle, D. G. |publisher=International Association for Bear Research and Management |year=2011 |page=64 |url=http://www.carnivoreconservation.org/files/meetings/iba_2011.pdf}}</ref> Some bears emerging from hibernation seek out tigers in order to steal their kills.<ref name="Tigersnow">{{cite book |last=Matthiessen |first=Peter |author2=Hornocker, Maurice |year=2001 |title=Tigers In The Snow |publisher=North Point Press |isbn=0-86547-596-2 }}</ref> Despite the possibility of tiger predation, some large brown bears may actually benefit from the tiger's presence by appropriating tiger kills that the bears may not be able to successfully hunt themselves and follow tiger tracks.<ref>{{cite book | author = Miquelle, D.G., Smirnov, E.N., Goodrich, J.M.| year= 2005 | title = Tigers of Sikhote-Alin Zapovednik: ecology and conservation | chapter= 1| publisher = PSP | location = Vladivostok, Russia}}</ref> Geptner et al. (1972) stated bears are generally afraid of tigers and change their path after coming across tiger trails.<ref name="Geptner1972">Geptner, V. G., Sludskii, A. A. (1972). ''Mlekopitaiuščie Sovetskogo Soiuza.'' Vysšaia Škola, Moskva. (In Russian; English translation: Heptner, V. G.; Sludskii, A. A.; Bannikov, A. G.; (1992). Smithsonian Institution and the National Science Foundation, Washington DC). pp. 95–202.</ref> In the winters of 1970–1973, Yudakov and Nikolaev recorded 1 case of brown bear showing no fear of the tigers and another case of brown bear changing path upon crossing tiger tracks.<ref>{{cite book |title = The Ecology of the Amur Tiger based on Long-Term Winter Observations in 1970–1973 in the Western Sector of the Central Sikhote-Alin Mountains |chapter = Hunting Behavior and Success of the Tigers' Hunts| author=Yudakov, A. G., Nikolaev, I. G.| publisher=Institute of Biology and Soil Science, Far-Eastern Scientific Center, Academy of Sciences of the USSR| year=2004 |edition=english translation |url=http://sixote-alin.ru/books/ecolog/ch12_en.html}}</ref> Other researchers have observed bears following tiger tracks for various reasons.<ref name="Seryodkin2">{{cite book |author=Seryodkin, I. V., Goodrich, J. M., Kostyrya, A. V., Schleyer, B. O., Smirnov, E. N., Kerley, L. L., & Miquelle, D. G. |year=2005 |chapter=Глава 19. Взаимоотношения амурского тигра с бурым и гималайским медведями |editor=Miquelle, D. G.; Smirnov, E. N.; Goodrich, J. M. |title=Tigers of Sikhote-Alin Zapovednik: Ecology and Conservation |location=Vladivostok, Russia |publisher=PSP |pages=156–163 |language=Russian |url=http://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&sl=ru&u=http://www.wcsrussia.org/Publications/TigerMonograph/tabid/2082/language/en-US/default.aspx&ei=yhlkSsf9KeOgjAf4r7zvDw&sa=X&oi=translate&resnum=3&ct=result&prev=/search%3Fq%3Dwcs%2Brussia%2Btiger%2Bmonograph%26hl%3Den%26safe%3Doff%26sa%3DG}}</ref>


When emerging from hibernation, brown bears, whose broad paws allow them to walk over most ice and snow, may pursue large prey such as moose, whose hooves cannot support them on encrusted snow.<ref name= Macdonald/> Similarly, predatory attacks on large prey sometimes occur at riverbeds, when it is more difficult for the prey specimen to run away due to muddy or slippery soil.<ref name="pasitschniak-arts1993mamsp"></ref> On rare occasions, while confronting fully-grown, dangerous prey, bears kill them by hitting with their powerful forearms, which can break the necks and backs of large creatures such as adult moose and adult bison.<ref name="brown"/> They feed on ], and use their size to intimidate other predators – such as ], ]s, tigers, and ]s – away from their kills. Carrion is especially important in the early spring (when the bears are emerging from hibernation), much of it comprising winter-killed big game.<ref name="pasitschniak-arts1993mamsp"></ref> Cannibalism is not unheard of, though predation is not normally believed to be the primary motivation when brown bears attack each other.<ref name="brown"/>
Brown bears regularly intimidate ] (''Canis lupus'') away from their kills. In ], brown bears pirate wolf kills so often, Yellowstone's Wolf Project director Doug Smith wrote, "It's not a matter of if the bears will come calling after a kill, but when." Despite the high animosity between the two species, most confrontations at kill sites or large carcasses end without bloodshed on either side. Though conflict over carcasses is common, on rare occasions the two predators tolerate each other on the same kill. To date, there is a single case of fully-grown wolves being killed by a grizzly bear.<ref>{{cite journal|url=http://www.canadianfieldnaturalist.ca/index.php/cfn/article/view/550 |volume=122 |issue=1 |year=2008 |title= Gray Wolves, ''Canis lupus'', Killed by Cougars, ''Puma concolor'', and a Grizzly Bear, ''Ursus arctos'', in Montana, Alberta, and Wyoming |author= Jimenez, Michael D.; Asher, Valpa J.; Bergman, Carita; Bangs, Edward E. and Woodruff, Susannah P. |journal=The Canadian Field-Naturalist |page=76}} .</ref> Given the opportunity, however, both species will prey on the other's cubs.<ref>{{cite web |author=Downey, Betsy |title=Personal Encounter. Wolf-Grizzly interaction in Yellowstone National Park |publisher=] |url=http://www.wolf.org/wolves/news/iwmag/2006/spring/personalencounter.pdf |archiveurl=http://web.archive.org/web/20080227175714/http://www.wolf.org/wolves/news/iwmag/2006/spring/personalencounter.pdf |archivedate=27 February 2008 }}</ref> Conclusively, the individual power of the bear against the collective strength of the wolf pack usually results in a long battle for kills or domination.


When forced to live in close proximity with humans and their domesticated animals, bears may potentially predate any type of domestic animal. Among these, domestic cattle are sometimes exploited as prey. Cattle are bitten on the neck, back, or head, and then the abdominal cavity is opened for eating.<ref name="pasitschniak-arts1993mamsp"></ref> Plants and fruit farmed by humans are readily consumed as well, including ], wheat, ], melons, and any form of ].<ref name="brown"/> They may feed on domestic ], readily consuming both honey and the brood (grubs and pupae) of the ] colony.<ref name="brown"/> Human foods and trash are eaten when possible. When an open garbage dump was kept in Yellowstone, brown bears were one of the most voracious and regular scavengers. The dump was closed after both brown and American black bears came to associate humans with food and lost their natural fear of them.<ref name="brown"/>
In some areas, the brown bear also regularly displaces ]s from their kills.<ref>{{cite journal|jstor=3873109|title=Encounter Competition between Bears and Cougars: Some Ecological Implications|author=Murphy, Kerry M.; Felzien, Gregory S.; Hornocker, Maurice G. and Ruth, Toni K. |journal=Ursus|volume=10 |year=1998|pages=55–60}}</ref> Cougars kill small bear cubs on rare occasions, but there was one report of a bear killing a cougar of unknown age and condition between 1993 to 1996.<ref>. Arlis.org. Retrieved 9 August 2012.</ref><ref>Hornocker, M., and S. Negri (eds.) (2009). ''Cougar: ecology and conservation''. University of Chicago Press. Chicago, IL, ISBN 0226353443.</ref> Smaller carnivorous animals, including ]s (''Canis latrans''), ]s (''Gulo gulo''), ]es (''Lynx'' ssp.) and any other sympatric ]s or ]s, are dominated by Brown bears and generally avoid direct interactions with them, unless attempting to ] scraps of food. However, wolverines have been persistent enough to fend off a grizzly bear as much as ten times their weight off a kill.<ref name="brown"/> There is one record of a ] (''Aquila chrysaetos'') predating a Brown bear cub.<ref>{{cite journal|last=Sørensen|first=Ole|author2=Mogens Totsås|author3=Tore Solstad|author4=Robin Rigg|year=2008|title=Predation by a Golden Eagle on a Brown Bear Cub|volume=19|issue=2|pages=190–193|doi=10.2192/08SC008.1|url=http://www.bearbiology.com/fileadmin/tpl/Downloads/URSUS/Vol_19/Sorenson_Totsas_Solstad_Rigg_19_2.pdf}}</ref>


===Relations with other predators===
Brown bears usually dominate other bear species in areas where they coexist. Due to their smaller size, ]s are at a competitive disadvantage to brown bears in open, unforested areas. Although displacement of black bears by brown bears has been documented, actual interspecific killing of black bears by brown bears has only occasionally been reported. Confrontation is mostly avoided due to the black bear's diurnal habits and preference for heavily forested areas, as opposed to the brown bear's largely nocturnal habits and preference for open spaces.<ref>{{cite journal |url=http://www.nps.gov/yell/naturescience/upload/predation.pdf|format=PDF |title=Probable grizzly bear predation on an American black bear in Yellowstone National Park |author=Gunther, Kerry A.; Biel, Mark J.; Anderson, Neil and Watts, Lisette |year=2002 |journal=] |volume=13 |pages=372–374}}</ref> Brown bears may also kill ]s, though the latter species probably largely avoids conflicts with the Brown bear due to similar habits and habitat preferences to the American Black species.<ref name="denning">{{cite journal|url=http://www.bearbiology.com/fileadmin/tpl/Downloads/URSUS/Vol_14_2/Seryodkin_14_2.pdf |title=Denning ecology of brown bears and Asiatic black bears in the Russian Far East|jstor=3873015|author=Seryodkin, Ivan V.|journal=Ursus|volume=14|issue= 2 |year=2003|pages=153–161|last2=Kostyria|first2=A. V.|last3=Goodrich|first3=J. M.|last4=Miquelle|first4=D. G.|last5=Smirnov|first5=E. N.|last6=Kerley|first6=L. L.|last7=Quigley|first7=H. B.|last8=Hornocker|first8=M. G. }}</ref> They will eat the fruit dropped by the Asian black bear from trees, as they themselves are too large and cumbersome to climb.<ref name="intel">''The Intellectual observer: review of natural history, microscopic research, and recreative science'', Groombridge, 1865</ref> Improbably, in the ] Brown bears are reportedly intimidated by Asian black bears in confrontations.<ref>Adams, Andrew Leith (1867) ''Wanderings of a naturalist in India: the western Himalayas, and Cashmere'', Edmonston and Douglas</ref>
]]]


Adult bears are generally immune to predatory attacks except from large ] and other bears. Following a decrease of ungulate populations from 1944 to 1959, 32 cases of Siberian tigers attacking both ]s (''Ursus arctos lasiotus'') and ]s (''U. thibetanus ussuricus'') were recorded in the ], and bear hairs were found in several tiger scat samples. Tigers attack black bears less often than brown bears, since the brown bears live in more open habitats and are not able to climb trees. In the same time period, four cases of brown bears killing female tigers and young cubs were reported, both in disputes over prey and in self-defense.<ref name="soviet"/> In rare cases, when Amur tigers prey on brown bears, they usually target young and sub-adult bears, besides small female adults taken outside their dens, generally when lethargic from ].<ref name=FBW>{{cite book| author=Fraser, A. F. |year=2012 |title=Feline Behaviour and Welfare |publisher=CABI| pages=72–77 |isbn=978-1-84593-926-7}}</ref> Predation by tigers on denned brown bears was not detected during a study carried out between 1993 and 2002.<ref name="Denning">{{cite journal |author=Seryodkin, I. V. |author2=Kostyria, A. V. |author3=Goodrich, J. M. |author4=Miquelle, D. G. |author5=Smirnov, E. N. |author6=Kerley, L. L. |author7=Hornocker, M. G. |name-list-style=amp |url=http://www.wcsrussia.org/DesktopModules/Bring2mind/DMX/Download.aspx?EntryId=3313&PortalId=32&DownloadMethod=attachment |year=2003 |title=Denning ecology of brown bears and Asiatic black bears in the Russian Far East |journal=Ursus |volume=14 |issue=2 |page=159 |access-date=15 September 2014 |archive-date=17 August 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110817151324/http://www.wcsrussia.org/DesktopModules/Bring2mind/DMX/Download.aspx?EntryId=3313&PortalId=32&DownloadMethod=attachment |url-status=dead }}</ref> Ussuri brown bears, along with the smaller black bears constitute 2.1% of the Siberian tiger's annual diet, of which 1.4% are brown bears.<ref name=Seryodkin2>{{cite book |author=Seryodkin, I. V. |author2=Goodrich, J. M. |author3=Kostyrya, A. V. |author4=Schleyer, B. O. |author5=Smirnov, E. N. |author6=Kerley, L. L. |author7=Miquelle, D. G. |name-list-style=amp |year=2005 |chapter=Глава 19. Взаимоотношения амурского тигра с бурым и гималайским медведями |editor1=Miquelle, D. G. |editor2=Smirnov, E. N. |editor3=Goodrich, J. M. |title=Tigers of Sikhote-Alin Zapovednik: Ecology and Conservation |location=Vladivostok, Russia |publisher=PSP |pages=156–163 |language=ru |chapter-url=https://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&sl=ru&u=http://www.wcsrussia.org/Publications/TigerMonograph/tabid/2082/language/en-US/default.aspx&ei=yhlkSsf9KeOgjAf4r7zvDw&sa=X&oi=translate&resnum=3&ct=result&prev=/search%3Fq%3Dwcs%2Brussia%2Btiger%2Bmonograph%26hl%3Den%26safe%3Doff%26sa%3DG |access-date=19 March 2023 |archive-date=18 October 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201018234449/http://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&sl=ru&u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.wcsrussia.org%2FPublications%2FTigerMonograph%2Ftabid%2F2082%2Flanguage%2Fen-US%2Fdefault.aspx&ei=yhlkSsf9KeOgjAf4r7zvDw&sa=X&oi=translate&resnum=3&ct=result&prev=%2Fsearch%3Fq%3Dwcs%2Brussia%2Btiger%2Bmonograph%26hl%3Den%26safe%3Doff%26sa%3DG |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="Seryodkin_PhD">{{cite thesis |url=http://uml.wl.dvgu.ru/rscv.php?id=74 |title=The ecology, behavior, management and conservation status of brown bears in Sikhote-Alin |language=ru |author=Seryodkin, I. |year=2006 |type=PhD |publisher=Far Eastern National University |location=Vladivostok, Russia |pages=61–73 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131224090426/http://uml.wl.dvgu.ru/rscv.php?id=74 |archive-date=2013-12-24}}</ref>
There has been a recent increase in interactions between brown bears and ]s, theorized to be caused by ]. Brown bears have been seen moving increasingly northward into territories formerly claimed by polar bears. Brown bears tend to dominate polar bears in disputes over carcasses,<ref>Dough O'Hara . Anchorage Daily News. 24 April 2005</ref> and dead polar bear cubs have been found in brown bear dens.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://abcnews.go.com/Technology/DyeHard/Story?id=582243&page=3 |title=ABC News: Grizzlies Encroaching on Polar Bear Country |publisher=ABC News |accessdate=10 October 2009}}</ref>


]
Large herbivores, such as ], ], and ] may have an intolerance of brown bears due to their possible threat to calves; moose regularly charge grizzly bears in their calf's defense.<ref name="Our Alaska: Grizzly vs. moose">{{cite web|title=Our Alaska: Grizzly vs. moose|url=http://web.archive.org/web/20131203025656/http://www.alaskadispatch.com/article/our-alaska-grizzly-vs-moose|publisher=Alaska Dispatch|date=17 July 2011}}</ref><ref name="Moose Moms Prefer Traffic to Grizzly Bears, Study Says">{{cite web|title=Moose Moms Prefer Traffic to Grizzly Bears, Study Says|url=http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2007/10/071012-moose-roads.html|work=National Geographic|accessdate=12 October 2007}}</ref> ] have been known to fatally injure lone grizzly bears in battles, and even a ] was observed to do so with its horns.<ref name="brown"/>


Brown bears regularly intimidate ] to drive them away from their kills. In ], bears pirate wolf kills so often, Yellowstone's Wolf Project director Doug Smith wrote, "It's not a matter of if the bears will come calling after a kill, but when." Despite the animosity between the two species, most confrontations at kill sites or large carcasses end without bloodshed on either side. Though conflict over carcasses is common, on rare occasions the two predators tolerate each other at the same kill. To date, there is a single recorded case of fully-grown wolves being killed by a grizzly bear.<ref>{{cite journal|volume=122 |issue=1 |year=2008 |title= Gray Wolves, ''Canis lupus'', Killed by Cougars, ''Puma concolor'', and a Grizzly Bear, ''Ursus arctos'', in Montana, Alberta, and Wyoming |author1= Jimenez, Michael D. |author2=Asher, Valpa J. |author3=Bergman, Carita |author4=Bangs, Edward E. |author5=Woodruff, Susannah P. |journal=The Canadian Field-Naturalist |page=76|doi=10.22621/cfn.v122i1.550 |doi-access=free }} {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210119030500/https://mountainlion.org/US/WY/WY%20R%20Jimenez%20et%20al%202008%20Gray%20Wolves%20Killed%20by%20Cougars%20and%20Grizzly%20Bears%20in%20Montana,%20Alberta,%20and%20Wyoming%20-%20Canadian%20Field%20Naturalist.pdf |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20221009/https://mountainlion.org/US/WY/WY%20R%20Jimenez%20et%20al%202008%20Gray%20Wolves%20Killed%20by%20Cougars%20and%20Grizzly%20Bears%20in%20Montana,%20Alberta,%20and%20Wyoming%20-%20Canadian%20Field%20Naturalist.pdf |archive-date=2022-10-09 |url-status=live |date=19 January 2021 }}.</ref> Given the opportunity, however, both species will prey on the other's cubs.<ref>{{cite web |author=Downey, Betsy |title=Personal Encounter. Wolf-Grizzly interaction in Yellowstone National Park |publisher=] |url=http://www.wolf.org/wolves/news/iwmag/2006/spring/personalencounter.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080227175714/http://www.wolf.org/wolves/news/iwmag/2006/spring/personalencounter.pdf |archive-date=27 February 2008 }}</ref> In some areas, grizzly bears regularly displace ]s from their kills.<ref>{{cite journal|jstor=3873109|title=Encounter Competition between Bears and Cougars: Some Ecological Implications|author1=Murphy, Kerry M. |author2=Felzien, Gregory S. |author3=Hornocker, Maurice G. |author4=Ruth, Toni K. |journal=Ursus|volume=10 |year=1998|pages=55–60}}</ref> Cougars kill small bear cubs on rare occasions, but there was only one report of a bear killing a cougar, of unknown age and condition, between 1993 and 1996.<ref> {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130512163707/http://www.arlis.org/docs/vol1/52386062/ursus_arctos_001.html |date=12 May 2013 }}. Arlis.org. Retrieved 9 August 2012.</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last1=Hornocker |first1=Maurice |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ZSDUxT3fSYEC&q=editions:wf3LntQ6js8C |title=Cougar: Ecology and Conservation |last2=Negri |first2=Sharon |date=2009-12-15 |publisher=University of Chicago Press |isbn=978-0-226-35347-0 |pages=163–174 |language=en}}</ref>
==Relationship with humans==
] imprint]]
]


Brown bears usually dominate other bear species in areas where they coexist. Due to their smaller size, ]s are at a competitive disadvantage to grizzly bears in open, unforested areas. Although displacement of black bears by grizzly bears has been documented, actual killing of black bears by grizzlies has only occasionally been reported. Confrontation is mostly avoided due to the black bear's diurnal habits and preference for heavily forested areas, as opposed to the grizzly's largely nocturnal habits and preference for open spaces.<ref>{{cite journal |url=http://www.nps.gov/yell/naturescience/upload/predation.pdf |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20221009/http://www.nps.gov/yell/naturescience/upload/predation.pdf |archive-date=2022-10-09 |url-status=live|title=Probable grizzly bear predation on an American black bear in Yellowstone National Park |author1=Gunther, Kerry A. |author2=Biel, Mark J. |author3=Anderson, Neil |author4=Watts, Lisette |year=2002 |journal=] |volume=13 |pages=372–374}}</ref> Brown bears may also kill ]s, though the latter species probably largely avoids conflicts with the brown bear, due to similar habits and habitat preferences to the American black species.<ref name="denning">{{cite journal|url=http://www.bearbiology.com/fileadmin/tpl/Downloads/URSUS/Vol_14_2/Seryodkin_14_2.pdf |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20221009/http://www.bearbiology.com/fileadmin/tpl/Downloads/URSUS/Vol_14_2/Seryodkin_14_2.pdf |archive-date=2022-10-09 |url-status=live |title=Denning ecology of brown bears and Asiatic black bears in the Russian Far East|jstor=3873015|author=Seryodkin, Ivan V.|journal=Ursus|volume=14|issue= 2 |year=2003|pages=153–161|last2=Kostyria|first2=A. V.|last3=Goodrich|first3=J. M.|last4=Miquelle|first4=D. G.|last5=Smirnov|first5=E. N.|last6=Kerley|first6=L. L.|last7=Quigley|first7=H. B.|last8=Hornocker|first8=M. G. }}</ref> As of the 21st century, there has been an increase in interactions between brown bears and ]s, theorized to be caused by ]. Brown and grizzly bears have been seen moving increasingly northward into territories formerly claimed by polar bears. They tend to dominate polar bears in disputes over carcasses,<ref>Dough O'Hara . Anchorage Daily News. 24 April 2005</ref> and dead polar bear cubs have been found in brown bear dens.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://abcnews.go.com/Technology/DyeHard/Story?id=582243&page=3 |title=ABC News: Grizzlies Encroaching on Polar Bear Country |work=ABC News |access-date=10 October 2009 |archive-date=5 August 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170805152310/http://abcnews.go.com/Technology/DyeHard/Story?id=582243&page=3 |url-status=live }}</ref>
===Conflicts between bears and humans===
Bears become attracted to human-created food sources, such as garbage dumps, litter bins, and dumpsters; they venture into human dwellings or ]s in search of food as humans encroach into bear habitats. In the U.S., bears sometimes kill and eat farm animals. When bears come to associate human activity with a "food reward", they are likely to continue to become emboldened; the likelihood of human-bear encounters increases, as they may return to the same location despite relocation. The saying "a fed bear is a dead bear" has come into use to popularize the idea that allowing bears to scavenge human garbage, such as trash cans and campers' backpacks, ], or other food sources that draw the bear into contact with humans, can result in a bear's death.


===Longevity and mortality===
Relocation of the bear has been used to separate the bear from the human environment, but it does not address the problem of the bear's newly learned association of humans with food or the environmental situations which created the human-habituated bear. "Placing a bear in habitat used by other bears may lead to competition and social conflict, and result in the injury or death of the less dominant bear."<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.bearsmart.com/managingBears/Relocation.html|archiveurl=http://web.archive.org/web/20060513075036/http://www.bearsmart.com/managingBears/Relocation.html|archivedate=13 May 2006|title=Relocation|work=Get Bear Smart Society }}</ref>
{{multiple image |align=right |direction=vertical |width=

|image1=BärenspurP1050395.jpg |caption1=Front ] imprint
], a reserve located in the western United States, contains prime habitat for the grizzly bear (''Ursus arctos horribilis''), and due to the enormous number of visitors, human-bear encounters are common. The scenic beauty of the area has led to an influx of people moving into the area. In addition, because there are so many bear relocations to the same remote areas of Yellowstone, and because male bears tend to dominate the center of the relocation zone, female bears tend to be pushed to the boundaries of the region and beyond. As a result, a large proportion of repeat offenders, bears that are killed for public safety, are females. This creates a further depressive effect on an already endangered species. The grizzly bear is officially described as "threatened" in the U.S. Though the problem is most significant with regard to grizzlies, these issues affect the other types of brown bears as well.
|image2=Grizzly rear paw print.jpg |caption2=Rear paw imprint

}}
In Europe, part of the problem lies with ]s; over the past two centuries, many sheep and goat herders have gradually abandoned the more traditional practice of using ]s to guard flocks, which have concurrently grown larger. Typically, they allow the herds to graze freely over sizeable tracts of land. As bears reclaim parts of their range, they may eat livestock. In some cases, the shepherds shoot the bear, thinking their livelihood is under threat. Many are now better informed about the ample compensation available, and will make a claim when they lose livestock to a bear.

It is likely that humans caused extinction of bear populations and fragmentation of their habitats since prehistorical time. It is, for instance, shown that bear populations from the ] and the ] Mountains, separated by the densely populated Transcaucasian Depression, have been matrilineally isolated since the early Holocene era, i.e., after permanent human settlements appeared throughout the area<ref name="mari" />

===Relationship with Native Americans===
]
] tribes sympatric with brown bears often view them with a mixture of awe and fear. North American brown bears have at times been so feared by the natives, that they were rarely hunted, especially alone. At traditional grizzly hunts, the expedition was conducted with the same preparation and ceremoniality as intertribal warfare, and was never done except with a company of 4–10 warriors.{{clarify|reason=What nations? Which historical period? According to whom?|date=May 2015}} The tribe members who dealt the killing blow were highly esteemed among their compatriots. Californian natives actively avoided prime bear habitat, and would not allow their young men to hunt alone, for fear of bear attacks. During the Spanish colonial period, some tribes, instead of hunting grizzlies themselves, would seek aid from European colonists to deal with problem bears. Many authors in the American west wrote of natives or voyagers with lacerated faces and missing noses or eyes due to attacks from grizzlies.<ref name="geist">Geist, Valerius (1989) , pp. 282–294 in Juliet Clutton-Brock (ed.) ''The Walking larder: patterns of domestication, pastoralism, and predation'', Unwin Hyman, ISBN 0044450133.</ref>


The brown bear has a naturally long life. Wild females have been observed reproducing at 28 years, which is the oldest known age for reproduction of any ] in the wild. The peak reproductive age for females ranges from four to 20 years old.<ref name="Hunter"/><ref>{{cite journal|author1=Schwartz, C. C. |author2=Keating, K. A. |author3=Reynolds III, H. V. |author4=Barnes, V. G. Jr|author5=Sellers, R. A. |author6=Swenson, J. E. |author7=Miller, S. D. |author8=McLellan, B. |author9=Keay, J. |author10=McCann, R. |author11=Gibeau, M. |author12=Wakkinen, W. F. |author13=Mace, R. D. |author14=Kasworm, W. |author15=Smith, R. |author16=Herrero, S. |year=2003|title=Reproductive maturation and senescence in the female brown bear|journal= Ursus|pages= 109–119|jstor=3873012|volume=14|issue=#2}}</ref> The lifespan of both sexes within minimally hunted populations is estimated at an average of 25 years. The oldest recorded wild individual was nearly 37 years old.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Macdonald |first=David David Whyte |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=VRMxmAEACAAJ |title=The New Encyclopedia of Mammals |date=2001| entry= Bear family|publisher=Oxford University Press, Incorporated |isbn=978-0-19-850823-6 |language=en}}</ref> In captivity, the oldest recorded female was around 40 years old, while males have been known to live up to 47 years.<ref name="pasitschniak-arts1993mamsp"></ref><ref name= Walker/>
] is named after a Native American legend, where a female bear and her cub swam across Lake Michigan. Exhausted from their journey, the bears rested on the shoreline and fell sound asleep. Over the years, the sand covered them up, creating a huge sand dune.


While male bears potentially live longer in captivity, female grizzly bears have a greater annual survival rate than males within wild populations, per a study done in the ].<ref>{{cite journal|author1=Schwartz, C. C. |author2=Haroldson, M. A. |author3=White, G. C. |author4=Harris, R. B. |author5=Cherry, S. |author6=Keating, K. A. |author7=Moody, D. |author8=Servheen, C. |title=Temporal, Spatial, and Environmental Influences on the Demographics of Grizzly Bears in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem |journal=Wildlife Monographs|volume=161|pages=1–68|doi=10.2193/0084-0173(2006)1612.0.CO;2|year=2006|s2cid=85600938 }}</ref> Annual mortality for bears of any age is estimated at 10% in most protected areas.<ref name="Hunter"/> Around 13% to 44% of cubs die within their first year.<ref name="pasitschniak-arts1993mamsp"></ref> Beyond predation by large predators – including ], Siberian tigers, and other brown bears – starvation and accidents also claim the lives of cubs. Studies have indicated that the most prevalent cause of mortality for first-year cubs is malnutrition.<ref name="pasitschniak-arts1993mamsp"></ref>
Many Native American tribes both respect and fear the brown bear, even thinking of it as a god.{{citation needed|date=May 2015}} One tale tells of how the black bear was a creation of the ], while the grizzly was created by the Evil Spirit.{{clarify|reason=Which nation?|date=May 2015}}<ref>''Folklore and Legends of the North American Indian'' compiled by Joshua B Lippincott, published by Abela Publishing Ltd, 2009, ISBN 0-9560584-6-9</ref> In ] mythology, black and brown bears became enemies when Grizzly Bear Woman killed Black Bear Woman for being lazy. Black Bear Woman's children, in turn, killed Grizzly Bear Woman's own cubs.<ref>] and ] (1992) ''Kwakiutl String Figures'' UBC Press, ISBN 0-7748-0432-7</ref>


Brown bears are susceptible to parasites such as ]s, ], ], ]s, and ].<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Rogers |first1=Lynn L. |last2=Rogers |first2=Susanne M. |date=1976 |title=Parasites of Bears: A Review |url=http://dx.doi.org/10.2307/3872791 |journal=Bears: Their Biology and Management |volume=3 |pages=411–430 |doi=10.2307/3872791 |jstor=3872791 |issn=1936-0614}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last=J. Brglez |first=S. Valentinclc |date=1968 |title=Parasites of brown bear, Ursus arctos L. |url=https://www.cabidigitallibrary.org/doi/full/10.5555/19720802813 |journal=Acta Veterinaria (Beograd) |volume=18 |issue=6 |pages=379–384}}</ref> It is thought that brown bears may catch ] (CDV) from other ]s such as ]s and wolves.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Di Francesco |first1=Cristina Esmeralda |last2=Gentile |first2=Leonardo |last3=Di Pirro |first3=Vincenza |last4=Ladiana |first4=Lara |last5=Tagliabue |first5=Silvia |last6=Marsilio |first6=Fulvio |date=2015-01-01 |title=Serologic Evidence for Selected Infectious Diseases in Marsican Brown Bears (''Ursus arctos marsicanus'') in Italy (2004–09) |url=http://dx.doi.org/10.7589/2014-01-021 |journal=Journal of Wildlife Diseases |volume=51 |issue=1 |pages=209–213 |doi=10.7589/2014-01-021 |pmid=25375945 |issn=0090-3558}}</ref> A captive individual allegedly succumbed to ].<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Mörner |first1=Torsten |last2=Eriksson |first2=Hanna |last3=Bröjer |first3=Caroline |last4=Nilsson |first4=Kristina |last5=Uhlhorn |first5=Henrik |last6=Ågren |first6=Erik |last7=Segerstad |first7=Carl Hård af |last8=Jansson |first8=Désirée S. |last9=Gavier-Widén |first9=Dolores |date=April 2005 |title=Diseases and mortality in free-ranging brown bear (''Ursus arctos''), gray wolf (''Canis lupus''), and wolverine (''Gulo gulo'') in Sweden |url=http://dx.doi.org/10.7589/0090-3558-41.2.298 |journal=Journal of Wildlife Diseases |volume=41 |issue=2 |pages=298–303 |doi=10.7589/0090-3558-41.2.298 |pmid=16107663 |issn=0090-3558}}</ref>
===Bear encounters===
There are an average of two fatal attacks by bears per year in North America.<ref>Herrero, Stephen (2002) ''Bear Attacks: Their Causes and Avoidance'', revised edition, Lyons Press, ISBN 158574557X.</ref> In ], there are only four known cases since 1902 of bear encounters which have resulted in death. The two most common causes for bear attack are surprise and curiosity.<ref name="akscience">{{cite web |url=http://web.archive.org/web/20090814111211/http://www.absc.usgs.gov/research/brownbears/attacks/bear-human_conflicts.htm |title=Ursus arctos californicus |accessdate=12 April 2008 |author=Smith, Tom S. and Herrero, Steven |publisher=Alaska Science Center – Biological Science Office}}</ref> Some types of bears, such as polar bears, are more likely to attack humans when searching for food, while ]s are much less likely to attack.


=== Hibernation physiology ===
The Alaska Science Center ranks the following as the most likely reasons for bear attacks:<ref name="akscience" />
A study conducted by the Brown Bear Research Project did a ] analysis of the brown bear's blood, organs, and tissues to pinpoint proteins and ]s that either increased or decreased in expression in the winter and summer months. One major finding was that the presence of the plasma protein ] (SHBG) increased by 45 times during the brown bear's hibernation period. Although scientists do not yet understand the role of SHBG in maintaining the brown bear's health, some believe these findings could potentially help in understanding and preventing human diseases that come from a sedentary lifestyle.<ref name=":1">{{Cite journal |last1=Fröbert |first1=O. |last2=Frøbert |first2=A. M. |last3=Kindberg |first3=J. |last4=Arnemo |first4=J. M. |last5=Overgaard |first5=M. T. |date=March 2020 |title=The brown bear as a translational model for sedentary lifestyle-related diseases |journal=Journal of Internal Medicine |language=en |volume=287 |issue=3 |pages=263–270 |doi=10.1111/joim.12983 |pmid=31595572 |issn=0954-6820|doi-access=free |hdl=11250/2642746 |hdl-access=free }}</ref>
# Surprise
# Curiosity
# Invaded personal space (this includes a mother bear protecting her young)
# Predatory intent
# Hunting wounded
# Carcass defense
# Provoked charge


==Relations with humans==
Aggressive behavior in brown bears is favored by numerous selection variables. Unlike the smaller black bears, adult brown bears are too large and have improperly shaped claws to escape danger by climbing trees, so they respond to danger by standing their ground and warding off their attackers. Increased aggressiveness also assists female brown bears in better ensuring the survival of their young to reproductive age.<ref>. Digital Collegian. 27 April 2004</ref> Mothers defending cubs are the most prone to attacking, being responsible for 70% of brown bear-caused human fatalities in North America.<ref>Rogers, Lynn L. . bear.org</ref>


===Attacks on humans=== ===Attacks on humans===
{{Main|Bear attack}}
] in ], ]]]
{{See also|Bear danger}}
Brown bears seldom attack humans on sight, and usually avoid people. They are, however, unpredictable in temperament, and may attack if they are surprised or feel threatened.<ref name="attack">Herrero, Stepehen (1985) ''Bear Attacks: Their Causes and Avoidance'', Hurtig Publishers Ltd./ Edmonton</ref> Sows with cubs account for the majority of injuries and fatalities in North America. ] or food-conditioned bears can also be dangerous, as their long-term exposure to humans causes them to lose their natural shyness, and, in some cases, to associate humans with food. Small parties of one or two people are more often attacked than large groups, with only one known case of an attack on a group of six or more. In that instance, it is thought that due to surprise, the bear may not have recognized the size of the group.<ref name="NOLS 2011 bear attack">Medred, Craig (26 July 2011) , '']''</ref> In the majority of attacks resulting in injury, brown bears precede the attack with a growl or huffing sound,<ref name="attack"/> In contrast to injuries caused by American black bears, which are usually minor, brown bear attacks tend to result in serious injury and, in some cases, death.<ref name="attack"/> Brown bears seem to confront humans as they would when fighting other bears: they rise up on their hind legs, and attempt to "disarm" their victims by biting and holding on to the lower jaw to avoid being bitten in turn.<ref name="geist"/> Due to the bears' enormous physical strength, even a single bite or swipe can be deadly, as in tigers, with some human victims having had their heads completely crushed by a bear bite.<ref name="living">, by ], 1858–1906; Selous, Frederick Courteney, 1851–1917; Johnston, Harry Hamilton, Sir, 1858–1927; Maxwell, Herbert, Sir, published by New York, Dodd, Mead and Company]. Archive.org. Retrieved 15 September 2011.</ref> Most attacks occur in the months of July, August, and September, the time when the number of outdoor recreationalists, such as hikers or hunters, is higher. People who assert their presence through noises tend to be less vulnerable, as they alert bears to their presence. In direct confrontations, people who run are statistically more likely to be attacked than those who stand their ground. Violent encounters with brown bears usually last only a few minutes, though they can be prolonged if the victims fight back.<ref name="attack"/>
<!--])]]-->
]


Brown bears usually avoid areas where extensive development or urbanization has occurred.<ref>{{cite journal |author=Woodroffe, R. |title=Predators and people: Using human densities to interpret declines of large carnivores |journal=Animal Conservation |volume=3 |issue=2 |page=165 |doi=10.1111/j.1469-1795.2000.tb00241.x |url=http://www.catsg.org/cheetah/05_library/5_3_publications/W/Woodroffe_2000_Human_density_and_carnivore_declines.pdf |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20221009/http://www.catsg.org/cheetah/05_library/5_3_publications/W/Woodroffe_2000_Human_density_and_carnivore_declines.pdf |archive-date=2022-10-09 |url-status=live |year=2000|bibcode=2000AnCon...3..165W |s2cid=84430290 }}</ref> They usually avoid people and rarely attack on sight.<ref name="Kistchinski">{{cite journal |author=Kistchinski, A. A. |title='Life history of the brown bear (''Ursus arctos'' L.) in north-east Siberia |journal=Bears: Their Biology and Management |volume=2 |pages=67–73 |doi=10.2307/3872570 |jstor=3872570 |year=1972}}</ref> They are, however, unpredictable in temperament, and may attack if threatened or surprised.<ref name=":0">{{Cite book |last=Herrero |first=Stephen |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ISBN158574557X |title=Bear Attacks: Their Causes and Avoidance |date=2002 |publisher=Globe Pequot Press |isbn=978-1-58574-557-9 |pages=10–25 |language=en }}{{Dead link|date=August 2024 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref> Mothers defending cubs are the most prone to attacking, being responsible for 70% of brown bear-caused human fatalities in North America.<ref>{{citation |last=Rogers |first=Lynn L. |url=http://www.bear.org/Black/Articles/How_Dangerous_are_Black_Bears.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20021016041143/http://www.bear.org/Black/Articles/How_Dangerous_are_Black_Bears.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=16 October 2002 |title=How Dangerous are Black Bears |publisher=Bear.org}}</ref> Attacks tend to result in serious injury and, in some cases, death.<ref name=":0" /> Due to the bears' enormous physical strength, a single bite or swipe can be deadly.<ref>{{cite journal |pmid=12676309 |year=2003 |last1=Cardall |first1=T. Y. |title=Grizzly bear attack |journal=The Journal of Emergency Medicine |volume=24 |issue=3 |pages=331–333 |last2=Rosen |first2=P. |doi=10.1016/s0736-4679(03)00004-0}}</ref> Violent encounters with brown bears usually last a few minutes, though they can be prolonged if the victims fight back.<ref name=":0" />
Attacks on humans are considered extremely rare in the ], though exceptions exist in districts where they are not pursued by hunters.<ref name="soviet"/> Siberian bears, for example, tend to be much bolder toward humans than their shyer, more persecuted European counterparts. In 2008, a ] mining compound in the Olyotorsky district of northern Kamchatka was besieged by a group of 30 bears, who killed two guards and prevented workers from leaving their homes.<ref>. The Times. 24 July 2008</ref> Ten people a year are killed by brown bears in Russia.<ref>{{cite web |last=Dinets |first=Vladimir |url=http://dinets.travel.ru/russianbears.htm |title=Brown Bears of Russia|accessdate=13 January 2014 |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20121215051532/http://dinets.travel.ru/russianbears.htm|archivedate=15 December 2012 |deadurl=yes |accessdate=18 May 2014}}</ref> In Scandinavia, only three fatal attacks were recorded in the 20th century.<ref name="britbear">{{cite web | url = http://www.toothandclaw.org.uk/species.asp | archiveurl = http://web.archive.org/web/20080516054756/http://www.toothandclaw.org.uk/species.asp | archivedate = 16 May 2008 | title = Brown Bear (''Ursus arctos''))|publisher = Tooth & Claw| accessdate = 5 January 2008}}</ref>


A study conducted in 2019 found that 664 bear attacks were reported during a 15-year period (2000{{endash}}2015) throughout North America and Eurasia. There were 568 injuries and 95 fatalities.<ref name=":3">{{Cite journal |last1=Bombieri |first1=G. |last2=Naves |first2=J. |last3=Penteriani |first3=V. |last4=Selva |first4=N. |last5=Fernández-Gil |first5=A. |last6=López-Bao |first6=J. V. |last7=Ambarli |first7=H. |last8=Bautista |first8=C. |last9=Bespalova |first9=T. |last10=Bobrov |first10=V. |last11=Bolshakov |first11=V. |last12=Bondarchuk |first12=S. |last13=Camarra |first13=J. J. |last14=Chiriac |first14=S. |last15=Ciucci |first15=P. |date=2019-06-12 |title=Brown bear attacks on humans: a worldwide perspective |journal=Scientific Reports |language=en |volume=9 |issue=1 |page=8573 |doi=10.1038/s41598-019-44341-w |pmid=31189927 |pmc=6562097 |bibcode=2019NatSR...9.8573B |issn=2045-2322}}</ref> Around 10 people a year are killed by brown bears in Russia, more than all the other parts of the brown bear's range combined.<ref>{{cite web |last=Dinets |first=Vladimir |url=http://dinets.travel.ru/russianbears.htm |title=Brown Bears of Russia|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121215051532/http://dinets.travel.ru/russianbears.htm|archive-date=15 December 2012 |url-status=dead }}</ref> In Japan, a large brown bear nicknamed ''Kesagake'' ("]-style slasher") caused the ] in ], during numerous encounters during December 1915. It killed seven people and wounded three others before being gunned down during a large-scale beast-hunt.<ref>{{cite book|author=Dickman, A. J. |author2=Hazzah, L. |year=2016|chapter=Money, Myths and Man-Eaters: Complexities of Human–Wildlife Conflict|title=Problematic Wildlife |pages=339–356|publisher= Springer|isbn=978-3-319-22246-2 }}</ref> A study by U.S. and Canadian researchers has found ] to be more effective at stopping aggressive bear behavior than guns, working in 92% of studied incidents, versus 67% for guns.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.bear.org/website/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=202&Itemid=123 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110101181640/http://www.bear.org/website/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=202&Itemid=123 |archive-date=1 January 2011 |title=Spray more effective than guns against bears: study |publisher=North American Bear Center |author1=Smith, Herrero |author2=DeBruyn, Wilde |year=2008}}</ref>
In Japan, a large brown bear nicknamed "''Kesagake''" (袈裟懸け, "]-style slasher") made history for causing the ] at ] during numerous encounters during December 1915. It killed seven people and wounded three others (with possibly another three previous fatalities to its credit) before being gunned down after a large-scale beast-hunt. Today, there is still a shrine at Rokusensawa (六線沢), where the event took place, in memory of the victims of the incident.


=== Bear hunting ===
Within Yellowstone National Park, injuries caused by grizzly attacks in developed areas averaged approximately one per year during the 1930s through to the 1950s, though it increased to four per year during the 1960s. They then decreased to one injury every two years during the 1970s. Between 1980 and 2002, there have been only two human injuries caused by grizzly bears in a developed area. Though grizzly attacks were rare in the backcountry before 1970, the number of attacks increased to an average of approximately one per year during the 1970s, 1980s, and 1990s.<ref>. Yellowstone-bearman.com (1 January 2000). Retrieved 2011-09-15.</ref>
{{main article|Bear hunting}}
]


Humans have been recorded hunting brown bears for over 10,300–9,300 years. Bears were hunted throughout their range in Europe, Asia and North America by both the native Americans and Europeans. The former usually killed bears for survival needs, while the latter for sports or population control.<ref>McLaren, Duncan & Wigen, Rebecca & Mackie, Quentin & Fedje, Daryl. (2005). pp. 4–23</ref><ref name=":5" /> In Europe, between the 17th and 18th centuries, humans sought to control brown bear numbers by awarding those who managed to kill one. This bounty scheme pushed the brown bear population to the brink of extinction before comprehensive protection was offered in the 1900s. Despite this, a 2018 study found hunting to be one of the contributing factors to the drop in brown bear numbers in ].<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Bischof |first1=Richard |last2=Bonenfant |first2=Christophe |last3=Rivrud |first3=Inger Maren |last4=Zedrosser |first4=Andreas |last5=Friebe |first5=Andrea |last6=Coulson |first6=Tim |last7=Mysterud |first7=Atle |last8=Swenson |first8=Jon E. |date=January 2018 |title=Regulated hunting re-shapes the life history of brown bears |url=https://www.nature.com/articles/s41559-017-0400-7 |journal=Nature Ecology & Evolution |language=en |volume=2 |issue=1 |pages=116–123 |doi=10.1038/s41559-017-0400-7 |pmid=29230025 |hdl=10852/67379 |s2cid=3288368 |issn=2397-334X|hdl-access=free }}</ref><ref name=":3" />
===History of defense from bears===
A study by US and Canadian researchers has found ] to be more effective at stopping aggressive bear behavior than guns, working in 92% of studied incidents versus 67% for guns.<ref>{{cite web
|url=http://www.bear.org/website/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=202&Itemid=123
|archiveurl=http://web.archive.org/web/20110101181640/http://www.bear.org/website/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=202&Itemid=123
|archivedate=1 January 2011
|title=Spray more effective than guns against bears: study
|publisher=North American Bear Center
|accessdate=28 March 2009
|last=Smith, Herrero, DeBruyn, Wilde
|year=2008
}}</ref> Carrying pepper spray is highly recommended by many authorities when traveling in bear country; however, carrying two means of deterrent, one of which is a large caliber gun, is also advised. Solid shotgun slugs, or three buckshot rounds, or a pistol of .44 caliber or more is suggested if a heavy hunting rifle is not available. Guns remain a viable, last resort option to be used in defense of life from aggressive bears.<ref name="smith_brown_bear_projects">{{cite web
|url=http://web.archive.org/web/20090814110427/http://www.absc.usgs.gov/research/brownbears/safety/safeconduct.htm
|title=Brown Bear Projects at the Alaska Science Center
|publisher=Alaska Science Center – Biological Science Office
|accessdate=2 June 2008
|last=Smith
|first=Tom S
}}</ref> Too often, people do not carry a proper caliber weapon to neutralize the bear. According to the Alaska Science Center, a ] ] with ] has been the most effective weapon. There have been fewer injuries as a result of only carrying lethal loads in the shotgun, as opposed to deterrent rounds. State of Alaska Defense of Life or Property (DLP) laws require one to report the kill to authorities, and salvage the hide, skull, and claws.<ref name="casenumber_07-96958">{{cite web
|url=http://www.dps.state.ak.us/pio/dispatch/Trooper%20Dispatches%20of%2011-19-2007.20071119.txt
|title=Alaska State Troopers Press Release of Monday, November 19, 2007
|publisher=Alaska Department of Public Safety
|accessdate=2 June 2008
|date=19 November 2007
|format=Case Number: 07-96958
|archiveurl = http://web.archive.org/web/20080417183426/http://www.dps.state.ak.us/pio/dispatch/Trooper+Dispatches+of+11-19-2007.20071119.txt |archivedate = 17 April 2008}}</ref>


The earliest known case of a European killing a grizzly bear dates back to 1691. Their arrival in ] led to the ] of local brown bear populations in the 19th and early 20th centuries. During the early years of European settlement in North America, bears were usually killed with a spear or ]. The introduction of ]s in the mid-19th century largely facilitated bear hunts, which allowed for an increasing trend. Bears were also pitted into fights against male ], often ending with either animal grievously injured or dead. The last two decades of the 19th century saw an increase in ]. Conflicts with farmers also contributed to its rapid decline. It wasn't until the 1920s that grizzly bears received some type of protection from the US government.<ref name=":5">{{Cite book |last=Busch |first=Robert (Robert H. ) |url=http://archive.org/details/grizzlyalmanac0000busc |title=The grizzly almanac |date=2004 |publisher=Guilford, Conn. : The Lyons Press |others=Internet Archive |isbn=978-1-59228-320-0 |pages=98–126}}</ref> Today, brown bears are legally hunted in some ], such as ]. However, a ] is required and killings of nurturing females and cubs will result in a prison sentence.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Albert |first1=David M. |last2=Bowyer |first2=R. Terry |last3=Miller |first3=Sterling D. |date=2001 |title=Effort and Success of Brown Bear Hunters in Alaska |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/3784174 |journal=Wildlife Society Bulletin |volume=29 |issue=2 |pages=501–508 |jstor=3784174 |issn=0091-7648}}</ref>
Campers are often told to wear bright colored red ribbons and bells, and carry whistles to ward off bears. They are told to look for grizzly scat in camping areas, and be careful to carry the bells and whistles in those areas. Grizzly scat is difficult to differentiate from black bear scat, as diet is in a constant state of flux depending on the availability of seasonal food items. If a bear is killed near camp, the bear's carcass must be adequately disposed of, including entrails and blood, if possible. Failure to move the carcass has often resulted in it attracting other bears and further exacerbating a bad situation. Moving camps immediately is another recommended method.


Brown bear meat is sometimes consumed and used in recipes such as dumplings, hams and stews. The Indigenous people of ] use their flesh in traditional dishes. In Asia and Romania, the paws are consumed as exotic delectables; they have been a prevalent component of ] since 500 BC. The total weight of commercially sold brown bear meat is estimated at 17 tons annually.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Kelava Ugarković |first1=Nikolina |last2=Konjačić |first2=Miljenko |last3=Malnar |first3=Josip |last4=Tomljanović |first4=Kristijan |last5=Šprem |first5=Nikica |last6=Ugarković |first6=Damir |date=January 2021 |title=Proximate Chemical Composition, Fatty Acid Profile, and Lipid Qualitative Indices of Brown Bear Meat |journal=Foods |language=en |volume=10 |issue=1 |page=36 |doi=10.3390/foods10010036 |doi-access=free |pmid=33374425 |pmc=7824718 |issn=2304-8158}}</ref>
A page at the State of Alaska Department of Natural Resources website offers information about how to "." This information is helpful for people venturing into "bear country", regardless of state or country,


===Culture=== === In captivity ===
], US|right]]
]", illustration from ''Childhood's Favorites and Fairy Stories'']]
Brown bears often figure into the literature of Europe and North America, in particular that which is written for children. "]" is a ] ] telling the adventures of a girl who married a prince magically turned into a bear, and who managed to get him back into a human form by the force of her love and after many trials and difficulties. With "]", a story from England, the three bears are usually depicted as brown bears. In German speaking countries, children are often told the fairytale of ]; the handsome prince in this tale has been transfigured into a brown bear. In the United States, parents often read their preschool age children the book ] to teach them their colors and how they are associated with different animals.


Bears have been recorded in ] as early as 1,500 ].<ref name=":4" /> As of 2017, there are more than 700 brown bears in ]s and ] worldwide. Captive bears are largely lethargic and spend a considerable amount of time doing nothing. When active, captive bears may engage in repetitive back and forth motion, known widely as pacing. This behavior is most prevalent in bears kept in small, cramped cages often with no natural setting. Pacing is a way of coping with stress that comes with being trapped in unnaturally small spaces.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Pastorino |first1=Giovanni Quintavalle |last2=Christodoulides |first2=Yiannis |last3=Curone |first3=Giulio |last4=Pearce-Kelly |first4=Paul |last5=Faustini |first5=Massimo |last6=Albertini |first6=Mariangela |last7=Preziosi |first7=Richard |last8=Mazzola |first8=Silvia Michela |date=May 2017 |title=Behavioural Profiles of Brown and Sloth Bears in Captivity |journal=Animals |language=en |volume=7 |issue=5 |page=39 |doi=10.3390/ani7050039 |doi-access=free |pmid=28505095 |pmc=5447921 |issn=2076-2615}}</ref> These ]s have decreased due to better and larger enclosures being built, and more sustainable management from zoo staff.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Montaudouin |first1=S. |last2=Pape |first2=G. Le |date=2005-07-01 |title=Comparison between 28 zoological parks: stereotypic and social behaviours of captive brown bears (Ursus arctos) |url=https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0168159104002722 |journal=Applied Animal Behaviour Science |volume=92 |issue=1 |pages=129–141 |doi=10.1016/j.applanim.2004.10.015 |issn=0168-1591}}</ref>
The ] is a common ] for ] (as well as the former ]). The brown bear is also ]'s national animal.


Starting from infancy, brown bears may also be exploited as ]. Cubs, for example, are positioned on hot metal plates, causing them to "dance" to the sound of ] music running in the background. The process is repeated, resulting in bears being trained to "dance" when a violin is played. Similarly, brown bears are displayed in tiny enclosures near a restaurant, mainly for the purpose of luring customers. Privately-owned bears are also placed in insufficient environments and often suffer from ] and ].<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Stagni |first1=Elena |last2=Sequeira |first2=Sara |last3=Brscic |first3=Marta |last4=Redtenbacher |first4=Irene |last5=Hartmann |first5=Sabine |date=2023-12-13 |title=A retrospective study on the prevalence of main clinical findings in brown bears (Ursus arctos) rescued from substandard husbandry conditions |journal=Frontiers in Veterinary Science |volume=10 |page=1299029 |doi=10.3389/fvets.2023.1299029 |doi-access=free |issn=2297-1769 |pmid=38192718|pmc=10773888 }}</ref>
]]]
The ] club ] has a brown bear mascot named Berni.


]
The ] (NFL) franchise in Chicago, Illinois, is named the ]. In this context, no differentiation between black and brown bears is needed.


Brown bears have been popular attractions at ]es and other acts since ancient times. Due to their large size and imposing demeanor, the ] used brown bears in the execution of criminals, and pitted bears in fights with other animals. ]s would also fight bears, in what was essentially a fight to the death. Such events occurred in ]s housing thousands of spectators. In later times, street performances became popular in the ]; acts included "dancing" and "sleeping on command". These performances became increasingly widespread, and from the 1700s to 1800s, traveling circuses would perform in the streets of many European and Asian countries. Such circuses made use of bears that wore special clothing, and were usually run by ]s. A short while later, modern circuses began utilizing bears around the second half of the 18th century. Brown bears were said to be the easiest bear species to train due to their intelligence, unique personalities, and exceptional stability.<ref name=":4">{{Cite book |last=Brown |first=Gary |url=http://archive.org/details/greatbearalmanac0000brow |title=The great bear almanac |date=1993 |publisher=New York : Lyons & Burford |others=Internet Archive |isbn=978-1-55821-210-7 |pages=212–221}}</ref> According to a 2009 analysis, the brown bear was the second most exploited circus animal after the tiger.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Iossa |first1=G. |last2=Soulsbury |first2=C. D. |last3=Harris |first3=S. |date=May 2009 |title=Are wild animals suited to a travelling circus life? |url=https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/animal-welfare/article/abs/are-wild-animals-suited-to-a-travelling-circus-life/C76563EC6154E70AF3DB8A33832349C3 |journal=Animal Welfare |language=en |volume=18 |issue=2 |pages=129–140 |doi=10.1017/S0962728600000270 |s2cid=32259865 |issn=0962-7286}}</ref>
The school mascot for ], ], the ], the ], the ], and the ] is the brown bear.


===Culture===
The coat of arms of ] depicts a bear reaching up into a ''madroño'' or ] (''Arbutus unedo'') to eat some of its fruit, whereas the Swiss city of ]'s coat of arms also depicts a bear and the city's name is popularly thought to derive from the German word for bear.
{{further information|Cultural depictions of bears}}
{{Multiple images
| image1 = The Three Bears - Project Gutenberg etext 19993.jpg
| caption1 = "]", illustration from ''Childhood's Favorites and Fairy Stories''
| image2 = A house of cards, Puck cover.jpg
| caption2 = ] is often represented by a bear, as in this '']'' political cartoon from 1904.
| alt1 = The image shows three bears standing in a house
| alt2 = The image shows a bear behind a house of cards
}}


Bears have been popular subjects in art, literature, folklore, and mythology. The image of the mother bear was prevalent throughout societies in North America and Eurasia, based on the female's devotion and protection of her cubs.<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Ward |first1=Paul |last2=Kynaston |first2=Suzanne |year=1995 |title=Wild Bears of the World |url={{GBurl|3dJ9QgAACAAJ}} |url-access=registration |location=New York |publisher=Facts on File |isbn=978-0-8160-3245-7 |oclc=443610490|pages=12–13}}</ref> The earliest cave paintings of bears occurred in the ], with over 100 recorded paintings.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=De Swart |first=Herman |date=2004 |title=Cave bears in prehistoric art; a survey from the literature |url=https://www.persee.fr/doc/mhnly_1762-8024_2004_act_2_1_1405 |journal=Publications du musée des Confluences |volume=2 |issue=1 |pages=121–128}}</ref> Brown bears often figure in the literature of Europe and North America as "cute and cuddly", in particular that which is written for children. "]" is a Scottish ] telling of the adventures of a girl who married a prince magically turned into a bear and who managed to get him back into a human form by the force of her love after many trials and tribulations. With "]", a story from England, the Three Bears are usually depicted as brown bears. In German-speaking countries, children are often told the fairytale of "]"; the handsome prince in this tale has been transfigured into a brown bear. In the United States, parents often read their preschool age children the book '']'' to teach them their colors and how they are associated with different animals.<ref>{{cite journal|author=Newman, A. R. |year=1987|title= Images of the bear in Children's Literature|journal=Children's Literature in Education|volume=18|issue=#3|pages=131–138|doi=10.1007/bf01130991|s2cid=143882256}}</ref> ], the famous mascot of ], has since the 1940s been used to educate people on the dangers of human-caused ].<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Gomaa |first=Sally |date=2012 |title=Visual Rhetorical Analysis: The Case of Smokey Bear |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/41709687 |journal=JAC |volume=32 |issue=1/2 |pages=354–361 |jstor=41709687 |issn=2162-5190}}</ref>
In the town of ], in ], southern France, a "bear festival" (''festa de l'ós'') is celebrated annually at the beginning of spring, in which the locals dress up as bears, cover themselves with soot or coal and oil, and "attack" the onlookers, attempting to get everyone dirty. The festival ends with the ''ball de l'os'' (bear dance).


Brown bears have been extensively featured in the culture of ], and are considered sacred. To stop a bear's spirit from escaping after it was killed, the ] severed all 4 of its paws. They delayed consuming brown-bear flesh, owing to the belief that the bear's spirit was overwhelming in fresh kills. In addition, community members that wore ] were highly respected, as wearing one was seen as a sign of bravery and honor. The clattering caused by repeatedly shaking these necklaces were believed to bring forth therapeutic powers. In ], one legend has it that a marriage between a woman and a grizzly bear commenced the lineage of the native people. This is thought to have allowed the Haida to thrive in bear country.<ref name=":5" />
The ] is the state animal of ]. The California golden bear is the state animal of ]. Both animals are sub-species of the brown bear.


There is evidence of prehistoric ], though this is disputed by archaeologists.<ref>{{cite journal | last=Wunn | first=Ina | s2cid=53595088 | year=2000 | title=Beginning of Religion | journal=] | volume=47 | number=4 | pages=417–452 | doi=10.1163/156852700511612}}</ref> It is possible that bear worship existed in early Chinese and ]s.<ref>{{cite journal | title=The Concepts behind the Ainu Bear Festival (Kumamatsuri) | first1=Kyōsuke |last1=Kindaichi | first2=Minori |last2=Yoshida | journal=Southwestern Journal of Anthropology |volume=5 |number=4 | date=Winter 1949 | pages=345–350 | jstor=3628594 | doi=10.1086/soutjanth.5.4.3628594| s2cid=155380619 }}</ref> The Romans built small carved figures of bears that were used during the burials of infants.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=O'Regan |first=Hannah |date=2023-09-04 |title=Brown bears in burials and entertainment in later prehistoric to modern Britain (c. 2400 BC – AD 1900s) |url=https://nottingham-repository.worktribe.com/output/5365593 |journal=The Archaeology of Northern Europe |pages=187–208 |language=en |doi=10.1484/M.TANE-EB.5.134334|isbn=978-2-503-60611-8 }}</ref> In ], bears were considered similar to humans, mainly due to their ability to stand upright. In many ] and older ]s the portrayed attributes of bears are sluggishness, foolishness, and gullibility, which contradicts the actual behavior of the species. For example, bears have been reported tricking hunters by backtracking in the snow.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Bieder |first=Robert E. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=YX_xAQAAQBAJ&dq=info:93InEY8_ozcJ:scholar.google.com/&pg=PT8 |title=Bear|entry=Survivors |date=2005-08-18 |publisher=Reaktion Books |isbn=978-1-86189-482-3 |language=en}}</ref>
==Legal status==
* The grizzly bear, sometimes called the ''silvertip bear'', is listed as threatened in the ]. It is slowly repopulating in areas where it was previously extirpated, though it is still vulnerable.
* The California golden bear (''Ursus arctos californicus''<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.itis.gov/servlet/SingleRpt/SingleRpt?search_topic=TSN&search_value=726987 |title=''Ursus arctos californicus'' Merriam, 1896 |accessdate=1 April 2008|publisher=itis.gov}}</ref>) disappeared from the state of ] in 1922, when the last one was shot in ]. It is the official state animal.<ref name="ca.gov">{{cite web |title=History and Culture – State Symbols |publisher=] |url=http://www.library.ca.gov/history/symbols.html |accessdate=23 September 2011}}</ref>
* The Mexican grizzly bear is listed as an ], but it may be extinct.
* In Canada, it is listed as vulnerable in Alberta, British Columbia, Northwest Territories, and Yukon Territory. Prairie populations of grizzly bear are listed as extirpated in Alberta, Manitoba, and Saskatchewan.
* The brown bear is a ], given protection throughout the ].
* The brown bear is the national animal of ].
* The brown bear is depicted on the reverse of the Croatian 5 ] coin, minted since 1993.


In North America, the brown bear is considered a ] and has long piqued people's interest. The death of Bear 148 at the hands of a trophy hunter in 2017 sparked media outrage and the continued disapproval of trophy hunting.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Hughes |first1=Courtney |last2=Foote |first2=Lee |last3=Yarmey |first3=Nicholas T. |last4=Hwang |first4=Christina |last5=Thorlakson |first5=Jessica |last6=Nielsen |first6=Scott |date=April 2020 |title=From human invaders to problem bears: A media content analysis of grizzly bear conservation |journal=Conservation Science and Practice |language=en |volume=2 |issue=4 |doi=10.1111/csp2.176 |bibcode=2020ConSP...2E.176H |issn=2578-4854|doi-access=free }}</ref> The ] is a common ] for Russia (as well as the former ]), despite the country having no officially-designated national animal. The brown bear is Finland's national animal.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://oppiminen.yle.fi/nisakkaat-muita-selkarankaisia/karhut-ilvekset/karhu-on-suomen-kansalliselain |title=Karhu on Suomen kansalliseläin |date=16 September 2010 |publisher=yle.fi |access-date=18 August 2016 |archive-date=11 January 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160111235501/http://oppiminen.yle.fi/nisakkaat-muita-selkarankaisia/karhut-ilvekset/karhu-on-suomen-kansalliselain |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last=Riabov |first=Oleg |date=2020 |title=The Birth of the Russian Bear? The Bear Symbol in the Satirical Journals of the Russian Revolution of 1905 |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/27007706 |journal=Region |volume=9 |issue=1 |pages=139–168 |jstor=27007706 |issn=2166-4307}}</ref> The grizzly bear is the state animal of ].<ref>{{cite web |title=Symbols of Montana |publisher=Montana Historical Society |url=http://mhs.mt.gov/education/studentguide/Symbols.asp |access-date=18 August 2016 |archive-date=18 December 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091218045709/http://mhs.mt.gov/education/studentguide/Symbols.asp |url-status=dead }}</ref> The ] is the state animal of California, despite being extinct.<ref name= ca.gov>{{cite web |title=History and Culture – State Symbols |publisher=] |url=http://www.library.ca.gov/history/symbols.html |access-date=24 September 2011 |archive-date=5 January 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190105214315/http://www.library.ca.gov/california-history/state-symbols/ |url-status=dead }}</ref> The coat of arms of ] depicts a bear reaching up into a madroño or ] (''Arbutus unedo'') to eat some of its fruit. The Swiss city of ]'s coat of arms depicts a bear and the city's name is popularly thought to derive from the German word for bear.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Deyermond |first=A. D. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=h04IHDeA4bkC&dq=info:hy5lQfAZSAIJ:scholar.google.com/&pg=PA177 |title=Festschrift |date=1997 |publisher=Tamesis |isbn=978-1-85566-051-9 |pages=177–187 |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last1=Swenson |first1=Jon E. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=I9553WUdBnYC |title=Action Plan for the Conservation of the Brown Bear in Europe (Ursus Arctos) |last2=Council of Europe |date=2000-01-01 |publisher=Council of Europe |isbn=978-92-871-4426-3 |page=69 |language=en}}</ref> The brown bear is depicted on the reverse of the Croatian 5-] coin, minted since 1993.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Majić |first1=Aleksandra |last2=Marino Taussig de Bodonia |first2=Agnese |last3=Huber |first3=Đuro |last4=Bunnefeld |first4=Nils |date=December 2011 |title=Dynamics of public attitudes toward bears and the role of bear hunting in Croatia |url=http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.biocon.2011.09.005 |journal=Biological Conservation |volume=144 |issue=12 |pages=3018–3027 |doi=10.1016/j.biocon.2011.09.005 |bibcode=2011BCons.144.3018M |issn=0006-3207}}</ref>
==See also==
* ]
* ]
* ]
* ] (A Disney attraction)


==References== ==References==
{{Reflist|colwidth=30em}} {{Reflist}}

==Notes==
{{NoteFoot}}


==Bibliography== ==Bibliography==
* {{cite book|ref=Vaisfeld|title=Bears: Brown Bear, Polar Bear, Asian Black Bear. Distribution, ecology, use and protection|editor1=Vaisfeld, M. A.|editor2= Chestin, I. E.|publisher=Nauka |place=Moscow|isbn=978-5020035676|year=1993|language=ru, en}}
* {{cite book|ref=Heptner |author=Heptner V.G. and Sludskii, A.A. |title=Mammals of the Soviet Union, Volume II, Part 2 |year=1992 |isbn=90-04-08876-8 |publisher=Brill |location=Leiden u.a.}}

==Further reading==
Monaghan, Nigel T. 2023 The Brown Bear (''Ursus arctos'' L) in Ireland. ''Irish Naturalist' Journal''. 1 - 19


==External links== ==External links==
{{Commons and category|Ursus arctos|Ursus arctos}} {{Commons and category|Ursus arctos|Ursus arctos}}
{{wikispecies|Ursus arctos}} {{Wikispecies|Ursus arctos}}
* from National GeographicFurth
<!-- but not wikibooked yet, as of 13 June 2007. when done, please replace this note with {{Wikibooks}} -->
*
* from National Geographic
* *
*


{{Carnivora|Ca.}}
{{Arctos}} {{Arctos}}
{{Carnivora|C.}}
{{North American Game}} {{North American Game}}

{{Authority control}} {{Authority control}}
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Latest revision as of 20:48, 21 January 2025

Large bear native to Eurasia and North America This article is about the animal. For the athletics teams at Brown University, see Brown Bears. For the research ship, see MV Brown Bear.

Brown bear
Temporal range: 0.5–0 Ma PreꞒ O S D C P T J K Pg NMiddle Pleistocene-Holocene
Kodiak bear on Kodiak Island
Conservation status

Least Concern  (IUCN 3.1)
CITES Appendix II (CITES)
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Order: Carnivora
Family: Ursidae
Genus: Ursus
Species: U. arctos
Binomial name
Ursus arctos
Linnaeus, 1758
Subspecies

15, see text and article

Brown bear range map

The brown bear (Ursus arctos) is a large bear native to Eurasia and North America. Of the land carnivorans, it is rivaled in size only by its closest relative, the polar bear, which is much less variable in size and slightly bigger on average. The brown bear is a sexually dimorphic species, as adult males are larger and more compactly built than females. The fur ranges in color from cream to reddish to dark brown. It has evolved large hump muscles, unique among bears, and paws up to 21 cm (8.3 in) wide and 36 cm (14 in) long, to effectively dig through dirt. Its teeth are similar to those of other bears and reflect its dietary plasticity.

Throughout the brown bear's range, it inhabits mainly forested habitats in elevations of up to 5,000 m (16,000 ft). It is omnivorous, and consumes a variety of plant and animal species. Contrary to popular belief, the brown bear derives 90% of its diet from plants. When hunting, it will target animals as small as insects and rodents to those as large as moose or muskoxen. In parts of coastal Alaska, brown bears predominantly feed on spawning salmon that come near shore to lay their eggs. For most of the year, it is a usually solitary animal that associates only when mating or raising cubs. Females give birth to an average of one to three cubs that remain with their mother for 1.5 to 4.5 years. It is a long-lived animal, with an average lifespan of 25 years in the wild. Relative to its body size, the brown bear has an exceptionally large brain. This large brain allows for high cognitive abilities, such as tool use. Attacks on humans, though widely reported, are generally rare.

While the brown bear's range has shrunk, and it has faced local extinctions across its wide range, it remains listed as a least concern species by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) with a total estimated population in 2017 of 110,000. Populations that were hunted to extinction in the 19th and 20th centuries are the Atlas bear of North Africa and the Californian, Ungavan and Mexican populations of the grizzly bear of North America. Many of the populations in the southern parts of Eurasia are highly endangered as well. One of the smaller-bodied forms, the Himalayan brown bear, is critically endangered: it occupies only 2% of its former range and is threatened by uncontrolled poaching for its body parts. The Marsican brown bear of central Italy is one of several currently isolated populations of the Eurasian brown bear and is believed to have a population of only about 50 bears.

The brown bear is considered to be one of the most popular of the world's charismatic megafauna. It has been kept in zoos since ancient times, and has been tamed and trained to perform in circuses and other acts. For thousands of years, the brown bear has had a role in human culture, and is often featured in literature, art, folklore, and mythology.

Etymology

The brown bear is sometimes referred to as the bruin, from Middle English. This name originated in the fable History of Reynard the Fox, translated by William Caxton, from the Middle Dutch word bruun or bruyn, meaning "brown". In the mid-19th-century United States, the brown bear was given the nicknames "Old Ephraim" and "Moccasin Joe".

The scientific name of the brown bear, Ursus arctos, comes from the Latin ursus, meaning "bear", and the Greek ἄρκτος/arktos, also meaning "bear".

Evolution and taxonomy

Taxonomy and subspecies

Main article: Subspecies of brown bear
A bear in a wooded area
Adult female Eurasian brown bear, the nominate subspecies

Carl Linnaeus scientifically described the species under the name Ursus arctos in the 1758 edition of Systema Naturae. Brown bear taxonomy and subspecies classification has been described as "formidable and confusing", with few authorities listing the same set of subspecies. There are hundreds of obsolete brown-bear subspecies. As many as 90 subspecies have been proposed. A 2008 DNA analysis identified as few as five main clades, which comprise all extant brown bear species, while a 2017 phylogenetic study revealed nine clades, including one representing polar bears. As of 2005, 15 extant, or recently extinct, subspecies were recognized by the general scientific community.

DNA analysis shows that, apart from recent, human-caused population fragmentation, brown bears in North America are generally part of a single interconnected population system, with the exception of the population (or subspecies) in the Kodiak Archipelago, which has probably been isolated since the end of the last Ice Age. These data demonstrate that U. a. gyas, U. a. horribilis, U. a. sitkensis, and U. a. stikeenensis are not distinct or cohesive groups, and would more accurately be described as ecotypes. For example, brown bears in any particular region of the Alaska coast are more closely related to adjacent grizzly bears than to distant populations of brown bears.

The history of the bears of the Alexander Archipelago is unusual in that these island populations carry polar bear DNA, presumably originating from a population of polar bears that was left behind at the end of the Pleistocene, but have since been connected with adjacent mainland populations through the movement of males, to the point where their nuclear genomes indicate more than 90% brown bear ancestry. MtDNA analysis revealed that brown bears are apparently divided into five different clades, some of which coexist or co-occur in different regions.

Evolution

The brown bear is one of eight extant species in the bear family Ursidae and of six extant species in the subfamily Ursinae.

A possible phylogeny based on complete mitochondrial DNA sequences from Yu et al. (2007).
Ursidae

Giant panda (Ailuropoda melanoleuca)

Spectacled bear (Tremarctos ornatus)

Ursinae

Sloth bear (Melursus ursinus)

Sun bear (Helarctos malayanus)

Asian black bear (Ursus thibetanus)

American black bear (Ursus americanus)

Polar bear (Ursus maritimus)

Brown bear (Ursus arctos)

The polar bear and the brown bear form a close grouping, while the relationships of the other species are not very well resolved.
A more recent phylogeny based on the genetic study of Kumar et al. (2017).
Ursidae

Giant panda (Ailuropoda melanoleuca)

Spectacled bear (Tremarctos ornatus)

Ursinae

Sloth bear (Melursus ursinus)

Sun bear (Helarctos malayanus)

Asian black bear (Ursus thibetanus)

American black bear (Ursus americanus)

Polar bear (Ursus maritimus)

Brown bear (Ursus arctos)

The study concludes that Ursine bears originated around five million years ago and show extensive hybridization of species in their lineage.


The brown bear is thought to have evolved from the Etruscan bear (Ursus etruscus) in Asia during the early Pliocene. A genetic analysis indicated that the brown bear lineage diverged from the cave bear species-complex approximately 1.2–1.4 million years ago, but did not clarify if U. savini persisted as a paraspecies for the brown bear before perishing. The oldest brown bear fossils occur in Asia from about 500,000 to 300,000 years ago. They entered Europe 250,000 years ago and North Africa shortly after. Brown bear remains from the Pleistocene period are common in the British Isles, where, amongst other factors, they may have contributed to the extinction of cave bears (Ursus spelaeus).

Brown bears first emigrated to North America from Eurasia via Beringia during the Illinoian Glaciation. Genetic evidence suggests that several brown bear populations migrated into North America, aligning with the glacial cycles of the Pleistocene. The founding population of most North American brown bears arrived first, with the genetic lineage developing around ~177,000 BP. Genetic divergences suggest that brown bears first migrated south during MIS-5 (~92,000–83,000 BP), upon the opening of the ice-free corridor, After a local extinction in Beringia ~33,000 BP, two new but closely related lineages repopulated Alaska and northern Canada from Eurasia after the Last Glacial Maximum (>25,000 BP).

Brown-bear fossils discovered in Ontario, Ohio, Kentucky, and Labrador show that the species occurred farther east than indicated in historic records. In North America, two types of the subspecies Ursus arctos horribilis are generally recognized—the coastal brown bear and the inland grizzly bear.

Hybrids

See also: Grizzly–black bear hybrid and Grizzly–polar bear hybrid
A photo of a bear walking in tall grass
Possible grizzlyblack bear hybrid in the Yukon Territory

A grizzly–polar bear hybrid is a rare ursid hybrid resulting from a crossbreeding of a brown bear with a polar bear. It has occurred both in captivity and in the wild. In 2006, the occurrence of this hybrid was confirmed by testing the DNA of a strange-looking bear that had been shot in the Canadian Arctic, and seven more hybrids have since been confirmed in the same region, all descended from a single female polar bear. Previously, the hybrid had been produced in zoos and was considered a "cryptid" (a hypothesized animal for which there is no scientific proof of existence in the wild). Analyses of the genomes of bears have shown that introgression between species was widespread during the evolution of the genus Ursus, including the introgression of polar-bear DNA introduced to brown bears during the Pleistocene.

Description

Size

A photo of a smiling brown bear standing by a lake
Brown bears are highly variable in size. Eurasian brown bears often fall around the middle to low sizes for the species.

The brown bear is the most variable in size of modern bears. The typical size depends upon which population it is from, as most accepted subtypes vary widely in size. This is in part due to sexual dimorphism, as male brown bears average at least 30% larger than females in most subtypes. Individual bears vary in size seasonally, weighing the least in spring due to lack of foraging during hibernation, and the most in late fall, after a period of hyperphagia to put on additional weight to prepare for hibernation.

Brown bear skeleton

Brown bears generally weigh 80 to 600 kg (180 to 1,320 lb), with males outweighing females. They have a head-and-body length of 1.4 to 2.8 m (4 ft 7 in to 9 ft 2 in) and a shoulder height of 70 to 153 cm (28 to 60 in). The tail is relatively short, as in all bears, ranging from 6 to 22 cm (2.4 to 8.7 in) in length. The smallest brown bears, females during spring among barren-ground populations, can weigh so little as to roughly match the body mass of males of the smallest living bear species, the sun bear (Helarctos malayanus), while the largest coastal populations attain sizes broadly similar to those of the largest living bear species, the polar bear. Brown bears of the interior are generally smaller, being around the same weight as an average lion, at an average of 180 kg (400 lb) in males and 135 kg (298 lb) in females, whereas adults of the coastal populations weigh about twice as much. The average weight of adult male bears, from 19 populations, was found to be 217 kg (478 lb) while adult females from 24 populations were found to average 152 kg (335 lb).

Coloration

A brown bear at Whipsnade Zoo

Brown bears are often not fully brown. They have long, thick fur, with a moderately elongated mane at the back of the neck which varies somewhat across bear types. In India, brown bears can be reddish with silver-tipped hairs, while in China, brown bears are bicolored, with a yellowish-brown or whitish collar across the neck, chest, and shoulders. Even within well-defined subspecies, individuals may show highly variable hues of brown. North American grizzlies can be from dark brown (almost black) to cream (almost white) or yellowish-brown and often have darker-colored legs. The common name "grizzly" stems from their typical coloration, with the hairs on their back usually being brownish-black at the base and whitish-cream at the tips, giving them their distinctive "grizzled" color. Apart from the cinnamon subspecies of the American black bear (U. americanus cinnamonum), the brown bear is the only modern bear species to typically appear truly brown. The brown bear's winter fur is very thick and long, especially in northern subspecies, and can reach 11 to 12 cm (4.3 to 4.7 in) at the withers. The winter hairs are thin, yet rough to the touch. The summer fur is much shorter and sparser, with its length and density varying among geographic ranges.

Cranial morphology and size

Skull: side view (top), upper view (left) and lower view (right)

Adults have massive, heavily built, concave skulls, which are large in proportion to the body. The projections of the skull are well developed. Skull lengths of Russian brown bears tend to be 31.5 to 45.5 cm (12.4 to 17.9 in) for males, and 27.5 to 39.7 cm (10.8 to 15.6 in) for females. Brown bears have the broadest skull of any extant ursine bear. The width of the zygomatic arches in males is 17.5 to 27.7 cm (6.9 to 10.9 in), and 14.7 to 24.7 cm (5.8 to 9.7 in) in females. Brown bears have strong jaws: the incisors and canine teeth are large, with the lower canines being strongly curved. The first three molars of the upper jaw are underdeveloped and single-crowned with one root. The second upper molar is smaller than the others, and is usually absent in adults. It is usually lost at an early age, leaving no trace of its alveolus in the jaw. The first three molars of the lower jaw are very weak, and are often lost at an early age. The teeth of brown bears reflect their dietary plasticity and are broadly similar to those of other bears. They are reliably larger than teeth of American black bears, but average smaller in molar length than those of polar bears.

Claws and feet

Front paws

Brown bears have large, curved claws, with the front ones being larger than the back. They may reach 5 to 6 cm (2.0 to 2.4 in) and measure 7 to 10 cm (2.8 to 3.9 in) along the curve. Compared with the American black bear (Ursus americanus), the brown bear has longer and stronger claws, with a blunt curve. Due to their claw structure, in addition to their excessive weight, adult brown bears are not able to climb trees as well as black bears. In rare cases adult female brown bears have been seen scaling trees. The claws of a polar bear are quite different, being notably shorter but broader with a strong curve and sharper point. The species has large paws; the rear feet measure 21 to 36 cm (8.3 to 14.2 in) long, while the forefeet tend to measure 40% less. Brown bears are the only extant bears with a hump at the top of their shoulder, which is made entirely of muscle. This feature developed presumably to impart more force in digging, which helps during foraging and facilitates den construction prior to hibernation.

Distribution and habitat

Main article: Distribution of brown bears
A bear standing in flowing water
Brown bear at Brooks Falls

Brown bears inhabit the broadest range of habitats of any living bear species. They seem to have no altitudinal preferences and have been recorded from sea level to an elevation of 5,000 m (16,000 ft) in the Himalayas. In most of their range, brown bears seem to prefer semi-open country, with a scattering of vegetation, that can allow them a resting spot during the day. However, they have been recorded as inhabiting every variety of northern temperate forest known to occur.

This species was once native to Europe, much of Asia, the Atlas Mountains of Africa, and North America, but are now extirpated in some areas, and their populations have greatly decreased in other areas. There are approximately 200,000 brown bears left in the world. The largest populations are in Russia with 130,000, the United States with 32,500, and Canada with around 25,000. Brown bears live in Alaska, east through the Yukon and Northwest Territories, south through British Columbia, and through the western half of Alberta. The Alaskan population is estimated at a healthy 30,000 individuals. In the lower 48 states, they are repopulating slowly, but steadily along the Rockies and the western Great Plains.

In Europe, in 2010, there were 14,000 brown bears in ten fragmented populations, from Spain (estimated at only 20–25 animals in the Pyrenees in 2010, in a range shared between Spain, France, and Andorra, and some 210 animals in Asturias, Cantabria, Galicia, and León, in the Picos de Europa and adjacent areas in 2013) in the west, to Russia in the east, and from Sweden and Finland in the north to Romania (5,000–6,000), Bulgaria (900–1,200), Slovakia (with about 600–800 animals), Slovenia (500–700 animals), and Greece (with Karamanlidis et al. 2015 estimating >450 animals) in the south. In Asia, brown bears are found primarily throughout Russia, thence more spottily southwest to parts of the Middle East, including the Eastern Black Sea Region, Turkey which has 5,432 individuals of brown bear, to as far south as southwestern Iran, and to the southeast in Northeast China. Brown bears are also found in Western China, Kyrgyzstan, North Korea, Pakistan, Afghanistan, and India. A population of brown bears can be found on the Japanese island of Hokkaidō, which holds the largest number of non-Russian brown bears in eastern Asia, with about 2,000–3,000 animals.

Conservation status

A Marsican brown bear, with a range restricted to the Abruzzo, Lazio and Molise National Park, Italy

While the brown bear's range has shrunk and it has faced local extinctions, it remains listed as a least-concern species by the IUCN, with a total population of approximately 200,000. As of 2012, the brown bear and the American black bear are the only bear species not classified as threatened by the IUCN. However, the California grizzly bear, Ungava brown bear, Atlas bear, and Mexican grizzly bear, as well as brown bear populations in the Pacific Northwest, were hunted to extinction in the 19th and early 20th centuries and many of the southern Asian subspecies are highly endangered. The Syrian brown bear (U. a. syriacus) is very rare and it has been extirpated from more than half of its historic range. One of the smallest-bodied subspecies, the Himalayan brown bear (U. a. isabellinus), is critically endangered: it occupies only 2% of its former range and is threatened by uncontrolled poaching for its body parts. The Marsican brown bear in central Italy is believed to have a population of just 50 bears.

The smallest populations are most vulnerable to habitat loss and fragmentation, whereas the largest are primarily threatened by overhunting. The use of land for agriculture may negatively effect brown bears. Additionally, roads and railway tracks could pose a serious threat, as oncoming vehicles may collide with crossing animals. Poaching has been cited as another mortality factor. In one instance, a 3-year-long survey in the Russian Far East detected the illegal shipping of brown bear gallbladders to Southeast Asian countries. The purpose and motive behind the trade is unknown.

An action plan in 2000 aimed to conserve brown bears in Europe by mitigating human–wildlife conflict, educating farm owners as to sustainable practices, and preserving and expanding remaining forests. Compensation was given to people who suffered losses of livestock, food supplies, or shelter. Growing bear populations were recorded in some countries, such as Sweden, where an increase of 1.5% per annum occurred between the 1940s and 1990s. Brown bears in Central Asia are primarily threatened by climate change. In response to this, conservationists plan on building wildlife corridors to promote easy access from one brown bear population to another. In Himalayan Nepal, farmers may kill brown bears in revenge for livestock predation.

Behavior and life history

Like all bears, brown bears can stand on their hindlegs and walk for a few steps in this position, usually motivated to do so by curiosity, hunger or alarm

A 2014 study revealed that brown bears peaked in activity around the morning and early evening hours. Although activity can happen day or night, bears that live in locations where they are apt to interact with humans are more likely to be fully nocturnal. In areas with little interaction, many adult bears are primarily crepuscular, while yearlings and newly independent bears appear to be most active throughout the day. From summer through autumn, a brown bear can double its weight from what it was in the spring, gaining up to 180 kg (400 lb) of fat, on which it relies to make it through winter, when it becomes lethargic. Although they are not full hibernators and can be woken easily, both sexes prefer to den in a protected spot during the winter months. Hibernation dens may be located at any spot that provides cover from the elements and that can accommodate their bodies, such as a cave, crevice, cavernous tree roots, or hollow logs.

Brown bears have one of the largest brains of any extant carnivoran relative to their body size and have been shown to engage in tool use, which requires advanced cognitive abilities. This species is mostly solitary, although bears may gather in large numbers at major food sources (e.g., open garbage dumps or rivers containing spawning salmon) and form social hierarchies based on age and size. Adult male bears are particularly aggressive and are avoided by adolescent and subadult males, both at concentrated feeding opportunities and chance encounters. Females with cubs rival adult males in aggression and are much more intolerant of other bears than single females. Young adolescent males tend to be least aggressive and have been observed in nonantagonistic interactions with each other. Dominance between bears is asserted by making a frontal orientation, showing off canine teeth, muzzle twisting, and neck stretching, to which a subordinate will respond with a lateral orientation, by turning away and dropping the head, and by sitting or lying down. During combat, bears use their paws to strike their opponents in the chest or shoulders and bite the head or neck.

Communication

Brown bear sounds Brown bear sounds including huffing, jaw popping and growling
Brown bear roars Brown bears roaring over a carcass
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Several different facial expressions have been documented in brown bears. The "relaxed-face" is made during everyday activities, a face where the ears pointed to the sides and the mouth closed or slackly open. During social play, bears make "relaxed open-mouth face" in which the mouth is open, with a curled upper lip and hanging lower lip, and the ears alert and shifting. When looking at another animal at a distance, the bear makes an "alert face" as the ears are cocked and alert, the eyes wide open with the mouth is closed or only open slightly. The "tense closed mouth face" is made with the ears laid back and the mouth closed, and occurs when the bear feels threatened. When approached by another individual, the animal makes a "puckered-lip face" with a protruding upper lip and ears that go from cocked and alert when at a certain distance to laid back when closer or when retreating. The "jaw gape face" consists of an open mouth with visible lower canines and hanging lips while the "biting face" is similar to the "relaxed open-mouth face" except the ears are flattened and the eyes are wide enough to expose the sclera. Both the "jaw gape face" and the "biting face" are made when the bear is aggressive and can quickly switch between them.

Brown bears also produce various vocalizations. Huffing occurs when the animal is tense, while woofing is made when alarmed. Both sounds are produced by exhalations, though huffing is harsher and is made continuously (approximately twice per second). Growls and roars are made when aggressive. Growling is "harsh" and "guttural" and can range from a simple grrr to a rumble. A rumbling growl can escalate to a roar when the bear is charging. Roaring is described as "thunderous" and can travel 2 km (1.2 mi). Mothers and cubs wanting physical contact will bawl, which is heard as waugh!, waugh!.

Home ranges

Brown bears usually inhabit vast home ranges; however, they are not highly territorial. Several adult bears roam freely over the same vicinity without contention, unless rights to a fertile female or food sources are being contested. Despite their lack of traditional territorial behavior, adult males seem to have a "personal zone" within which other bears are not tolerated if they are seen. Males always wander further than females, due to such behavior giving increasing access to both females and food sources. Females have the advantage of inhabiting smaller territories, which decreases the likelihood of encounters with male bears who may endanger their cubs.

In areas where food is abundant, such as coastal Alaska, home ranges for females and males are up to 24 km (9.3 sq mi) and 89 km (34 sq mi), respectively. Similarly, in British Columbia, bears of the two sexes travel in relatively compact home ranges of 115 and 318 km (44 and 123 sq mi). In Yellowstone National Park, home ranges for females are up to 281 km (108 sq mi) and up to 874 km (337 sq mi) for males. In Romania, the largest home range was recorded for adult males (3,143 km; 1,214 sq mi). In the central Arctic of Canada, where food sources are quite scarce, home ranges range up to 2,434 km (940 sq mi) for females and 8,171 km (3,155 sq mi) for males.

Reproduction

Pair of mating brown bears at the Ähtäri Zoo in Ähtäri, Finland

The mating season occurs from mid-May to early July, shifting to later in the year the farther north the bears are found. Brown bears are polygynandrous, remaining with the same mate for a couple of days to a couple of weeks and mating multiply during the mating season. Outside of this narrow time frame, adult male and female brown bears show no sexual interest in each other. Females mature sexually between the ages of four and eight. Males first mate about a year later, when they are large and strong enough to compete with other males for mating rights. Males will try to mate with as many females as they can; usually a successful male will mate with two females in a span of one to three weeks. Similarly, adult female brown bears can mate with up to four, sometimes even eight, males while in oestrus (heat), potentially mating with two in a single day. Females come into oestrus every three to four years, with an outside range of 2.4 to 5.7 years. The urine markings of a female in oestrus can attract several males via scent. Dominant males may try to sequester a female for her entire oestrus period of approximately two weeks, but usually are unable to retain her for the entire time. Copulation is prolonged and lasts for over 20 minutes.

A mother bear standing next to her cubs
Grizzly bear cubs often imitate their mothers closely.

Males take no part in raising cubs – 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 six months. During winter dormancy, the fetus attaches to the uterine wall. The cubs are born eight weeks later, while the mother sleeps. If the mother does not gain enough weight to survive through the winter while gestating, the embryo does not implant and is reabsorbed into the body. Litters consist of as many as six cubs, though litters of one to three are more typical. The size of a litter depends on factors such as geographic location and food supply. At birth, cubs are blind, toothless and hairless and may weigh 350 to 510 g (0.77 to 1.12 lb). There are records of females sometimes adopting stray cubs or even trading or kidnapping cubs when they emerge from hibernation (a larger female may claim cubs from a smaller one). Older and larger females within a population tend to give birth to larger litters. The cubs feed on their mother's milk until spring or early summer, depending on climate conditions. At this time, the cubs weigh 7 to 9 kg (15 to 20 lb) and have developed enough to follow and forage for solid food with their mother over long distances.

Brown bear cub in Finland

The cubs are dependent on the mother and a close bond is formed. During the dependency stage, the cubs learn (rather than inherit as instincts from birth) 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. Increased brain size in large carnivores has been positively linked to whether a given species is solitary, as is the brown bear, or raises offspring communally. Thus, the relatively large, well-developed brain of a female brown bear is presumably key in teaching behavior. The cubs learn by following and imitating their mother's actions during the period they are with her. Cubs remain with their mother for an average of 2.5 years in North America, and gain independence from as early as 1.5 years of age to as late as 4.5 years. The stage at which independence is attained may generally be earlier in some parts of Eurasia, as the latest date which mother and cubs were together was 2.3 years. Most families separated in under two years in a study in Hokkaido, and in Sweden most yearlings were their own. Brown bears practice infanticide, as an adult male bear may kill the cubs of another. When an adult male brown bear kills a cub, it is usually because he is trying to bring the female into oestrus, as she will enter that state within two to four days after the death of her cubs. Cubs may flee up a tree when they see a strange male bear approaching. The mother often successfully defends them, even though the male may be twice as heavy as she. However, females have been known to die in such confrontations.

Dietary habits

Main article: Dietary biology of the brown bear
Brown bear hunting salmon

The brown bear is one of the most omnivorous animals and has been recorded as consuming the greatest variety of foods of any bear. Despite their reputation, most brown bears are not highly carnivorous, as they derive up to 90% of their dietary food energy from vegetable matter. They often feed on a variety of plant life, including berries, grasses, flowers, acorns, and pine cones, as well as fungi such as mushrooms. Among all bears, brown bears are uniquely equipped to dig for tough foods such as roots, bulbs, and shoots. They use their long, strong claws to dig out earth to reach roots and their powerful jaws to bite through them. In spring, winter-provided carrion, grasses, shoots, sedges, moss, and forbs are the dietary mainstays for brown bears internationally. Fruits, including berries, become increasingly important during summer and early autumn. Roots and bulbs become critical in autumn for some inland bear populations if fruit crops are poor.

Brown bear digging for squirrels

They will also commonly consume animal matter, which in summer and autumn may regularly be in the form of insects, larvae, and grubs, including beehives. Bears in Yellowstone eat an enormous number of moths during the summer, sometimes as many as 40,000 army cutworm moths in a single day, and may derive up to half of their annual food energy from these insects. Brown bears living near coastal regions will regularly eat crabs and clams. In Alaska, bears along the beaches of estuaries regularly dig through the sand for clams. This species may eat birds and their eggs, including almost entirely ground- or rock-nesting species. The diet may be supplemented by rodents or similar small mammals, including marmots, ground squirrels, mice, rats, lemmings, and voles. With particular regularity, bears in Denali National Park will wait at burrows of Arctic ground squirrels, hoping to pick off a few of those 1 kg (2.2 lb) rodents.

In the Kamchatka peninsula and several parts of coastal Alaska, brown bears feed mostly on spawning salmon, whose nutrition and abundance explain the enormous size of the bears in those areas. The fishing techniques of bears are well-documented. They often congregate around falls when the salmon are forced to breach the water, at which point the bears will try to catch the fish in mid-air (often with their mouths). They will also wade into shallow water, hoping to pin a slippery salmon with their claws. While they may eat almost all the parts of the fish, bears at the peak of salmon spawning, when there is usually a glut of fish to feed on, may eat only the most nutrious parts of the salmon (including the eggs and head) and then indifferently leave the rest of the carcass to scavengers, which can include red foxes, bald eagles, common ravens, and gulls. Despite their normally solitary habits, brown bears will gather closely in numbers at good spawning sites. The largest and most powerful males claim the most fruitful fishing spots and will sometimes fight over the rights to them.

A cow moose with calves being approached by an inland brown bear, Denali National Park, Alaska

Beyond the regular predation of salmon, most brown bears are not particularly active predators. While perhaps a majority of bears of the species will charge at large prey at one point in their lives, many predation attempts start with the bear clumsily and half-heartedly pursuing the prey and end with the prey escaping alive. On the other hand, some brown bears are quite self-assured predators who habitually pursue and catch large prey. Such bears are usually taught how to hunt by their mothers from an early age. Large mammals preyed on can include various ungulate species such as elk, moose, caribou, muskoxen, and wild boar. When brown bears attack these large animals, they usually target young or infirm ones, which are easier to catch. Typically when hunting (especially young prey), the bear pins its prey to the ground and then immediately tears at and eats it alive. It will also bite or swipe some prey to stun it enough to knock it over for consumption. In general, large mammalian prey is killed with raw strength and bears do not display the specialized killing methods of felids and canids. To pick out young or infirm individuals, bears will charge at herds so the more vulnerable, and thus slower-moving, individuals will become apparent. Brown bears may ambush young animals by finding them via scent.

When emerging from hibernation, brown bears, whose broad paws allow them to walk over most ice and snow, may pursue large prey such as moose, whose hooves cannot support them on encrusted snow. Similarly, predatory attacks on large prey sometimes occur at riverbeds, when it is more difficult for the prey specimen to run away due to muddy or slippery soil. On rare occasions, while confronting fully-grown, dangerous prey, bears kill them by hitting with their powerful forearms, which can break the necks and backs of large creatures such as adult moose and adult bison. They feed on carrion, and use their size to intimidate other predators – such as wolves, cougars, tigers, and American black bears – away from their kills. Carrion is especially important in the early spring (when the bears are emerging from hibernation), much of it comprising winter-killed big game. Cannibalism is not unheard of, though predation is not normally believed to be the primary motivation when brown bears attack each other.

When forced to live in close proximity with humans and their domesticated animals, bears may potentially predate any type of domestic animal. Among these, domestic cattle are sometimes exploited as prey. Cattle are bitten on the neck, back, or head, and then the abdominal cavity is opened for eating. Plants and fruit farmed by humans are readily consumed as well, including corn, wheat, sorghum, melons, and any form of berries. They may feed on domestic bee yards, readily consuming both honey and the brood (grubs and pupae) of the honey bee colony. Human foods and trash are eaten when possible. When an open garbage dump was kept in Yellowstone, brown bears were one of the most voracious and regular scavengers. The dump was closed after both brown and American black bears came to associate humans with food and lost their natural fear of them.

Relations with other predators

Brown bear being followed by a wolf

Adult bears are generally immune to predatory attacks except from large Siberian (Amur) tigers and other bears. Following a decrease of ungulate populations from 1944 to 1959, 32 cases of Siberian tigers attacking both Ussuri brown bears (Ursus arctos lasiotus) and Ussuri black bears (U. thibetanus ussuricus) were recorded in the Russian Far East, and bear hairs were found in several tiger scat samples. Tigers attack black bears less often than brown bears, since the brown bears live in more open habitats and are not able to climb trees. In the same time period, four cases of brown bears killing female tigers and young cubs were reported, both in disputes over prey and in self-defense. In rare cases, when Amur tigers prey on brown bears, they usually target young and sub-adult bears, besides small female adults taken outside their dens, generally when lethargic from hibernation. Predation by tigers on denned brown bears was not detected during a study carried out between 1993 and 2002. Ussuri brown bears, along with the smaller black bears constitute 2.1% of the Siberian tiger's annual diet, of which 1.4% are brown bears.

Brown bear and wolf pack squabbling over a carcass

Brown bears regularly intimidate wolves to drive them away from their kills. In Yellowstone National Park, bears pirate wolf kills so often, Yellowstone's Wolf Project director Doug Smith wrote, "It's not a matter of if the bears will come calling after a kill, but when." Despite the animosity between the two species, most confrontations at kill sites or large carcasses end without bloodshed on either side. Though conflict over carcasses is common, on rare occasions the two predators tolerate each other at the same kill. To date, there is a single recorded case of fully-grown wolves being killed by a grizzly bear. Given the opportunity, however, both species will prey on the other's cubs. In some areas, grizzly bears regularly displace cougars from their kills. Cougars kill small bear cubs on rare occasions, but there was only one report of a bear killing a cougar, of unknown age and condition, between 1993 and 1996.

Brown bears usually dominate other bear species in areas where they coexist. Due to their smaller size, American black bears are at a competitive disadvantage to grizzly bears in open, unforested areas. Although displacement of black bears by grizzly bears has been documented, actual killing of black bears by grizzlies has only occasionally been reported. Confrontation is mostly avoided due to the black bear's diurnal habits and preference for heavily forested areas, as opposed to the grizzly's largely nocturnal habits and preference for open spaces. Brown bears may also kill Asian black bears, though the latter species probably largely avoids conflicts with the brown bear, due to similar habits and habitat preferences to the American black species. As of the 21st century, there has been an increase in interactions between brown bears and polar bears, theorized to be caused by climate change. Brown and grizzly bears have been seen moving increasingly northward into territories formerly claimed by polar bears. They tend to dominate polar bears in disputes over carcasses, and dead polar bear cubs have been found in brown bear dens.

Longevity and mortality

Front paw imprintRear paw imprint

The brown bear has a naturally long life. Wild females have been observed reproducing at 28 years, which is the oldest known age for reproduction of any ursid in the wild. The peak reproductive age for females ranges from four to 20 years old. The lifespan of both sexes within minimally hunted populations is estimated at an average of 25 years. The oldest recorded wild individual was nearly 37 years old. In captivity, the oldest recorded female was around 40 years old, while males have been known to live up to 47 years.

While male bears potentially live longer in captivity, female grizzly bears have a greater annual survival rate than males within wild populations, per a study done in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem. Annual mortality for bears of any age is estimated at 10% in most protected areas. Around 13% to 44% of cubs die within their first year. Beyond predation by large predators – including wolves, Siberian tigers, and other brown bears – starvation and accidents also claim the lives of cubs. Studies have indicated that the most prevalent cause of mortality for first-year cubs is malnutrition.

Brown bears are susceptible to parasites such as flukes, ticks, tapeworms, roundworms, and biting lice. It is thought that brown bears may catch canine distemper virus (CDV) from other caniforms such as stray dogs and wolves. A captive individual allegedly succumbed to Aujeszky's disease.

Hibernation physiology

A study conducted by the Brown Bear Research Project did a proteomic analysis of the brown bear's blood, organs, and tissues to pinpoint proteins and peptides that either increased or decreased in expression in the winter and summer months. One major finding was that the presence of the plasma protein sex hormone-binding globulin (SHBG) increased by 45 times during the brown bear's hibernation period. Although scientists do not yet understand the role of SHBG in maintaining the brown bear's health, some believe these findings could potentially help in understanding and preventing human diseases that come from a sedentary lifestyle.

Relations with humans

Attacks on humans

Main article: Bear attack See also: Bear danger
A statue of a roaring bear looking over a fence
A statue of the Ussuri brown bear from Hokkaido, Japan

Brown bears usually avoid areas where extensive development or urbanization has occurred. They usually avoid people and rarely attack on sight. They are, however, unpredictable in temperament, and may attack if threatened or surprised. Mothers defending cubs are the most prone to attacking, being responsible for 70% of brown bear-caused human fatalities in North America. Attacks tend to result in serious injury and, in some cases, death. Due to the bears' enormous physical strength, a single bite or swipe can be deadly. Violent encounters with brown bears usually last a few minutes, though they can be prolonged if the victims fight back.

A study conducted in 2019 found that 664 bear attacks were reported during a 15-year period (2000–2015) throughout North America and Eurasia. There were 568 injuries and 95 fatalities. Around 10 people a year are killed by brown bears in Russia, more than all the other parts of the brown bear's range combined. In Japan, a large brown bear nicknamed Kesagake ("kesa-style slasher") caused the worst brown bear attack in Japanese history in Tomamae, Hokkaidō, during numerous encounters during December 1915. It killed seven people and wounded three others before being gunned down during a large-scale beast-hunt. A study by U.S. and Canadian researchers has found bear spray to be more effective at stopping aggressive bear behavior than guns, working in 92% of studied incidents, versus 67% for guns.

Bear hunting

Main article: Bear hunting
Hunters with a bear killed by a rifle (1904)

Humans have been recorded hunting brown bears for over 10,300–9,300 years. Bears were hunted throughout their range in Europe, Asia and North America by both the native Americans and Europeans. The former usually killed bears for survival needs, while the latter for sports or population control. In Europe, between the 17th and 18th centuries, humans sought to control brown bear numbers by awarding those who managed to kill one. This bounty scheme pushed the brown bear population to the brink of extinction before comprehensive protection was offered in the 1900s. Despite this, a 2018 study found hunting to be one of the contributing factors to the drop in brown bear numbers in northern Europe.

The earliest known case of a European killing a grizzly bear dates back to 1691. Their arrival in western United States led to the extirpation of local brown bear populations in the 19th and early 20th centuries. During the early years of European settlement in North America, bears were usually killed with a spear or lasso rope. The introduction of rifles in the mid-19th century largely facilitated bear hunts, which allowed for an increasing trend. Bears were also pitted into fights against male cattle, often ending with either animal grievously injured or dead. The last two decades of the 19th century saw an increase in bounties. Conflicts with farmers also contributed to its rapid decline. It wasn't until the 1920s that grizzly bears received some type of protection from the US government. Today, brown bears are legally hunted in some American states, such as Alaska. However, a hunting license is required and killings of nurturing females and cubs will result in a prison sentence.

Brown bear meat is sometimes consumed and used in recipes such as dumplings, hams and stews. The Indigenous people of James Bay (Eastern) Cree use their flesh in traditional dishes. In Asia and Romania, the paws are consumed as exotic delectables; they have been a prevalent component of traditional Chinese food since 500 BC. The total weight of commercially sold brown bear meat is estimated at 17 tons annually.

In captivity

Brown bear at Canton Zoo, US

Bears have been recorded in captivity as early as 1,500 BC. As of 2017, there are more than 700 brown bears in zoos and wildlife parks worldwide. Captive bears are largely lethargic and spend a considerable amount of time doing nothing. When active, captive bears may engage in repetitive back and forth motion, known widely as pacing. This behavior is most prevalent in bears kept in small, cramped cages often with no natural setting. Pacing is a way of coping with stress that comes with being trapped in unnaturally small spaces. These stereotyped behaviors have decreased due to better and larger enclosures being built, and more sustainable management from zoo staff.

Starting from infancy, brown bears may also be exploited as dancing bears. Cubs, for example, are positioned on hot metal plates, causing them to "dance" to the sound of violin music running in the background. The process is repeated, resulting in bears being trained to "dance" when a violin is played. Similarly, brown bears are displayed in tiny enclosures near a restaurant, mainly for the purpose of luring customers. Privately-owned bears are also placed in insufficient environments and often suffer from malnutrition and obesity.

Animal trainer with a bear

Brown bears have been popular attractions at circuses and other acts since ancient times. Due to their large size and imposing demeanor, the Romans used brown bears in the execution of criminals, and pitted bears in fights with other animals. Gladiators would also fight bears, in what was essentially a fight to the death. Such events occurred in amphitheaters housing thousands of spectators. In later times, street performances became popular in the Middle Ages; acts included "dancing" and "sleeping on command". These performances became increasingly widespread, and from the 1700s to 1800s, traveling circuses would perform in the streets of many European and Asian countries. Such circuses made use of bears that wore special clothing, and were usually run by musicians. A short while later, modern circuses began utilizing bears around the second half of the 18th century. Brown bears were said to be the easiest bear species to train due to their intelligence, unique personalities, and exceptional stability. According to a 2009 analysis, the brown bear was the second most exploited circus animal after the tiger.

Culture

Further information: Cultural depictions of bears The image shows three bears standing in a house"The Story of the Three Bears", illustration from Childhood's Favorites and Fairy StoriesThe image shows a bear behind a house of cardsRussia is often represented by a bear, as in this Puck political cartoon from 1904.

Bears have been popular subjects in art, literature, folklore, and mythology. The image of the mother bear was prevalent throughout societies in North America and Eurasia, based on the female's devotion and protection of her cubs. The earliest cave paintings of bears occurred in the Paleolithic, with over 100 recorded paintings. Brown bears often figure in the literature of Europe and North America as "cute and cuddly", in particular that which is written for children. "The Brown Bear of Norway" is a Scottish fairy tale telling of the adventures of a girl who married a prince magically turned into a bear and who managed to get him back into a human form by the force of her love after many trials and tribulations. With "Goldilocks and the Three Bears", a story from England, the Three Bears are usually depicted as brown bears. In German-speaking countries, children are often told the fairytale of "Snow White and Rose Red"; the handsome prince in this tale has been transfigured into a brown bear. In the United States, parents often read their preschool age children the book Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See? to teach them their colors and how they are associated with different animals. Smokey Bear, the famous mascot of U.S. Forest Service, has since the 1940s been used to educate people on the dangers of human-caused wildfire.

Brown bears have been extensively featured in the culture of Native Americans, and are considered sacred. To stop a bear's spirit from escaping after it was killed, the Denaa people severed all 4 of its paws. They delayed consuming brown-bear flesh, owing to the belief that the bear's spirit was overwhelming in fresh kills. In addition, community members that wore bear claw necklaces were highly respected, as wearing one was seen as a sign of bravery and honor. The clattering caused by repeatedly shaking these necklaces were believed to bring forth therapeutic powers. In Haida culture, one legend has it that a marriage between a woman and a grizzly bear commenced the lineage of the native people. This is thought to have allowed the Haida to thrive in bear country.

There is evidence of prehistoric bear worship, though this is disputed by archaeologists. It is possible that bear worship existed in early Chinese and Ainu cultures. The Romans built small carved figures of bears that were used during the burials of infants. In Ancient Greek mythology, bears were considered similar to humans, mainly due to their ability to stand upright. In many western stories and older fables the portrayed attributes of bears are sluggishness, foolishness, and gullibility, which contradicts the actual behavior of the species. For example, bears have been reported tricking hunters by backtracking in the snow.

In North America, the brown bear is considered a charismatic megafauna and has long piqued people's interest. The death of Bear 148 at the hands of a trophy hunter in 2017 sparked media outrage and the continued disapproval of trophy hunting. The Russian bear is a common national personification for Russia (as well as the former Soviet Union), despite the country having no officially-designated national animal. The brown bear is Finland's national animal. The grizzly bear is the state animal of Montana. The California golden bear is the state animal of California, despite being extinct. The coat of arms of Madrid depicts a bear reaching up into a madroño or strawberry tree (Arbutus unedo) to eat some of its fruit. The Swiss city of Bern's coat of arms depicts a bear and the city's name is popularly thought to derive from the German word for bear. The brown bear is depicted on the reverse of the Croatian 5-kuna coin, minted since 1993.

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Notes

  1. Populations of Bhutan, China, Mexico and Mongolia are included in Appendix I. All other populations are included in Appendix II.

Bibliography

  • Vaisfeld, M. A.; Chestin, I. E., eds. (1993). Bears: Brown Bear, Polar Bear, Asian Black Bear. Distribution, ecology, use and protection (in Russian and English). Moscow: Nauka. ISBN 978-5020035676.

Further reading

Monaghan, Nigel T. 2023 The Brown Bear (Ursus arctos L) in Ireland. Irish Naturalist' Journal. 1 - 19

External links

Extant Carnivora species
Feliformia ("cat-like" carnivorans)
Feliformia
Feloidea
Prionodon (Asiatic linsangs)
Felidae (cats)
Pantherinae
Neofelis
Panthera
Felinae sensu stricto
Bay cat
lineage
Pardofelis
Catopuma
Caracal
lineage
Caracal
Leopardus
Lynx
Puma
lineage
Acinonyx
Puma
Leopard cat
lineage
Prionailurus
Felis
Viverroidea
    • see below↓
Viverroidea
Viverridae
Palm civets
Hemigalinae
Paradoxurinae
Paradoxurus
Viverrinae sensu lato
Viverrinae
sensu stricto
Viverra
Genettinae
Poiana
(African linsangs)
Genetta (genets)
subgenus Genetta
(paraphyletic)
subgenus Eugenetta
(paraphyletic)
subgenus Herpailuropoda
(paraphyletic)
subgenus Pardogale
(paraphyletic)
subgenus Prionailuropoda
subgenus Leptailuropoda
(paraphyletic)
subgenus Osbornictis
Herpestoidea
    • see below↓
Herpestoidea
Hyaenidae
(hyenas)
Proteles
Hyaeninae
(bone-crushing hyenas)
Crocuta
Herpestidae sensu lato
Eupleridae
(Malagasy
carnivorans)
Euplerinae
(Malagasy civets)
Eupleres (falanoucs)
Galidiinae
(vontsira)
Galidictis
Salanoia
Herpestidae sensu stricto (mongooses)
Mungotinae
Suricata
Mungos
Helogale
Crossarchus
(kusimanses)
Herpestinae
Urva
(Asian mongooses)
Bdeogale
Herpestes
(slender mongooses)
Caniformia ("dog-like" carnivorans)
Canidae (dogs)
Urocyon
Vulpini
Nyctereutes
(raccoon dogs)
Vulpes
(true foxes)
Canini (true dogs)

Cerdocyonina
(zorro)
Speothos
Lycalopex
(South American foxes)

Canina
(wolf-like canids)
Lupulella
Lycaon
Canis
Arctoidea
Ursidae (bears)
Ailuropoda
Tremarctos
Ursinae
Ursus
Mustelida
Pinnipedia (seals)
    • see below↓
Musteloidea
    • see below↓
Pinnipedia (seals)
Odobenidae
Otariidae (eared seals)
Callorhinus
(northern fur seals)
Otariinae
(sea lions)
Zalophus
Neophoca
Arctocephalus
(southern fur seals)
Phocidae (earless seals or true seals)

Phocinae
("northern seals")
Phocini
Phoca
Pusa

Monachinae
("southern seals")
Monachini
(monk seals)
Neomonachus
Mirounga
(elephant seals)
Lobodontini
(Antarctic seals)
Musteloidea
Ailuridae
Mephitidae (skunks)
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(hog-nosed skunks)
Mephitis
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(stink badgers)
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Procyonidae
Bassariscus
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Nasuina
(coatis)
Nasua
Nasuella
(mountain coatis)
Mustelidae
    • see below↓
Mustelidae
Mustelidae
Mellivora
Melinae
Arctonyx
(hog badgers)
Meles
(Eurasian badgers)
Melogale
(ferret-badgers)
Guloninae
Pekania
Gulo
Martes
(martens)
Ictonychinae
Lyncodontini
Galictis
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Ictonychini
(African polecats)
Vormela
Ictonyx
Lutrinae (otters)
Lontra
Enhydra
Lutra
Lutrogale
Aonyx
Mustelinae
Neogale
(New World weasels)

Mustela
(weasels)
subgenus Mustela
(paraphyletic)
subgenus Lutreola
(paraphyletic)
subgenus Putorius
Brown bear subspecies or populations
Old World
Eurasian brown bear
(provisionally
U. a. arctos)
In Asia
In Europe
New World
Grizzly bear
(provisionally
U. a. horribilis)
In Alaska
In Canada
  1. Genetic tests demonstrate this population to have mixed brown bear and polar bear ancestry.
Game animals and shooting in North America
Game birds
Waterfowl hunters
Waterfowl hunters
Waterfowl
Big game
Other quarry
See also
Taxon identifiers
Ursus arctos
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