How much does a bear weigh on average? Which bear is the biggest? Who is bigger - a brown bear or a polar bear? How is a grizzly bear different from a brown bear? The fattest bear

Representatives of the bear family are the largest land predators. Although it would be a stretch to call bears predators. They are rather omnivores, often preferring plant products or honey, from which they get their name. Often bears do not eat newly killed animals, but leave them for several days, waiting until the corpse begins to decompose. Carrion “with a smell” is to the bear’s taste.

So who is he - the biggest bear in the world? Several representatives of the family claim the title of the very best:

Brown bear;
Grizzly bear;
Kodiak bear;
polar bear.

The rest of the bears are too small. Some (for example, the Malayan bear) do not exceed one and a half meters in length, others are even smaller.

Brown bear

The brown bear is our native Russian bear, which is well known to everyone. From time immemorial it has been considered the standard of power. Usually its weight does not exceed five hundred kilograms, and its length is two meters. But in Siberian forests there are giants up to two and a half meters in length and weighing up to eight hundred kilograms.

Its European counterpart, belonging to the same species, is noticeably smaller and cannot claim the title of the largest bear. And its colleagues living in Asia according to the taxon of zoological classification are no larger in size than the European bear. These are the Gobi, Tibetan and Himalayan subspecies. Only bears living in the New World and the North can compete with the Siberian bear.

Bears of America

The most popular American bear is the grizzly, widely known for its impressive size and ferocity. This bear is often 2.8 meters long and weighs up to 700-800 kilograms. There are photographs showing giants up to 4 meters in length, the mass of which can only be approximately determined. Without a doubt, such giants weigh more than a ton. Such large grizzlies are rare, but the average American bear is still slightly larger than its Siberian counterpart.

The subspecies of brown bear, which lives in the Kodiak archipelago off the southern coast of Alaska, is also very impressive in size. The bear, caught on Kodiak Island for the Berlin Zoo, weighed 1,134 kilograms. Individuals of this mass are extremely rare. The length of bears of this subspecies reaches 2.8 meters, and at the withers, standing on four legs, 1.6 meters.

Polar bear

The northern representative of the bear family closes the list of contenders for the title of “world’s largest bear.” A male polar bear has the following characteristics:

length – 2.5-3 meters;
weight – 500-1000 kg;
Height at the withers is about one and a half meters.

Some specimens reach even larger sizes. Females are much smaller than males. Their weight does not exceed five hundred kilograms, and more often it is around the three hundred kilogram mark. The polar bear population numbers between 20 and 30 thousand individuals. The largest live in the Bering Sea, the smallest in the Spitsbergen archipelago.

Who is first?

As you can see, the last three representatives of bears - the grizzly bear, the Kodiak Island bear and the polar bear - have the most impressive dimensions and weight. The largest in appearance are single specimens of grizzly bears. And the heaviest, according to documentary records, was the bear from Kodiak. At the same time, according to zoologists, among polar bears there is the largest percentage of truly large individuals in the bear family.

Summarize. The largest bear in the world could be a representative of any of these species. Of course, it all depends on the living conditions of a particular animal. Under favorable circumstances (abundance of food, optimal climatic conditions, absence of oppressive factors), a polar bear, a grizzly bear, and a bear from Kodiak Island can grow to record sizes.

Every year in the news, and more on the Internet, there are reports of encounters with giant bears in different parts of the world. Most often, people perceive this as just another duck, although many naturalists and hunters are confident that in remote, remote places giant bears exist and thrive well - direct descendants of animals that went extinct thousands of years ago.

Many trophy hunters dream of catching the biggest bear and getting into the record books. On the other hand, this powerful and very intelligent beast, with its size and strength, seems to challenge humans. Suffice it to recall the many years of hunting for a giant seasoned brown bear, so vividly described in William Faulkner’s story “The Bear.” By the way, on our website you can watch a magnificent film based on this book, which did not leave any hunter indifferent. Just go.

Kuvaev suggested looking for the Chukchi shark, which was either a miraculously preserved ancient cave bear, or some independent species, in the vicinity of Lake Elgygytgyn, one of the most inaccessible places in the region. So far, not a single bear resembling a shark has been found there. And no bear tracks of abnormal size were observed.

Giant with short legs

A new surge of interest in giant bears occurred after the publication in the press of materials about Kamchatka hunter Rodion Sivolobov, who claimed that in certain parts of the island there was an unusual bear, which the Koryaks called “irkuyem.” This animal is not only gigantic in size, but also differs in physique from other bears. According to Sivolobov, he first learned about the existence of the mysterious Irkuyem from the old Koryak I. Elelkiv, a resident of the village of Khvilino. He warned Sivolobov against hunting a huge bear with short hind legs - irkuyem.

Arctopus was very large

There is an opinion that in the mid-70s a huge specimen was shot, and its paws, almost half a meter long, and its skull were sent to the capital. But they didn’t get there - they mysteriously disappeared from the train somewhere in the Urals region.

A bear is one of the animals that you would hardly want to meet one on one. Its dimensions inspire genuine fear. Surprisingly, at birth some bears weigh less than 200 grams, and this inevitably raises the question of how much an adult bear weighs. It all depends on its type and individual characteristics. The most famous bears are: brown, black, white. Since the brown bear lives in our country, we will dwell on it in more detail.

Distribution area

Previously, the brown bear was found throughout almost all of Europe, including Ireland and England. The southern border of the range was the African Atlas Mountains, and in the east, bears were found even in the territory of modern Japan. It most likely entered North America approximately 40 thousand years ago. Then it settled in territories from Alaska to the northern borders of Mexico. Today, the brown bear is widespread in Finland (in this country it was even declared the national animal) and Scandinavia, and is less common in the center of Europe and the Carpathians. In addition, it also lives in Iranian and Iraqi forests, northern China, Palestine, the Korean Peninsula and the Japanese island of Hokkaido. In North America, the brown bear is called the “grizzly” and is more often found in western Canada and Alaska. In Russia, the brown bear lives in almost all forests of the country, except for the southern regions.

Appearance

The animal is strong, with distinct withers on the back. The body cover is thick. The coat color is uniform. As a rule, bears shed their coats in the spring, and their coats are renewed in the fall. The ears are small, the eyes are set deep. The tail is practically invisible under the fur and is only 2 cm long. The paws are quite strong, with curved claws (their length can reach 10 cm).

Weight of a brown bear and its dimensions

The average body length of a brown bear is 1-2 meters. recorded in Kamchatka, the Far East and Alaska. These are real giants: their height in a standing position reaches three meters. In addition to height, many are interested in how much a bear weighs. Body weight depends on the sex and age of the animal. As a rule, the male is larger than the female. The weight of an adult bear (male) is 140-400 kg. But among them there are giant individuals weighing up to 600 kg. The female weighs on average 90-210 kg. A bear with a record body weight was discovered on Kodiak Island. His weight was 1134 kg and his height was about 4 meters. Many people are interested in how much someone living in Russia weighs? In our country there are smaller individuals, their body weight on average is 100 kg. How much does a grizzly bear weigh that lives in America? The grizzly bear is a subspecies of the brown bear; its body weight can reach 500 kg. Individual individuals can weigh 700 kg.

Lifespan

How much does a bear weigh and how long does it live - these are probably the most frequently asked questions. Note that the animal directly depends on its habitat. In the wild it can live 20-35 years. If an animal is kept in a zoo or nature reserve, then it lives twice as long - about 50 years, or even more. Puberty occurs at 6-11 years of age.

Behavior

The brown bear has a developed sense of smell. He can smell meat well even from a great distance. The bear has perfectly developed hearing. He often stands on his hind legs to catch the direction of the flow of smell or listen to a sound that interests him. In the forest he behaves like a real owner: he walks around his property in the early morning or after dusk. In bad weather, it can wander through the forests for hours in search of food.

Lifestyle and nutritional habits

The brown bear is considered a forest animal. In Russia, its favorite places are dense forests with bushes and deciduous trees. Can enter the territory of the tundra and alpine forests. In Europe, it often lives in the mountains, and in North America, its favorite habitats are alpine meadows, tundra and the coast. The male usually lives alone, and the female with cubs. Each individual occupies a certain territory from 70 to 400 km, while the male requires 7 times more area than the female. Of course, this does not depend on how much the bear weighs. It’s just that a female more often lives with cubs, and it is more difficult for her to travel long distances than for a single male. Bears mark the boundaries of their territory with urine and scratches on trees.

Animals are omnivores. The diet consists of 75% plant foods - these are berries, tubers, grass stems, nuts, roots and acorns. In lean years they can feed in corn and oat fields. The clubfoot's diet may consist of ants, worms, and small rodents (mice, chipmunks, gophers). Although a bear is not a 100% predator, it can kill an elk or a roe deer. It is not uncommon for grizzlies to attack wolves, and in the Far East, bears sometimes hunt tigers. Honey is considered the favorite delicacy of this animal (that’s why it was called that). Fish is a seasonal object of hunting. At the beginning of spawning, when there are still few fish, the bear eats the entire carcass, but when there is a lot of it, it eats only the fat-rich parts (head, milt and caviar). In hungry years, a bear can hunt domestic animals and often visits apiaries, ruining them.

Brown bear activity occurs in the morning and evening hours. Lifestyle is seasonal. When it gets cold, the bear builds up a subcutaneous layer of fat and lies down in a den to hibernate. At the same time, the average weight of a bear increases by 20%. A den is a dry place under windbreaks or uprooted tree rhizomes. On average, winter sleep lasts about 70-190 days and depends on the climate (October-March, November-April). It turns out that the clubfoot hibernates for about six months. Female bears spend the longest time in hibernation, while older males spend the longest hibernation. It is also interesting to know how much a brown bear weighs after winter sleep. During this time they can lose about 80 kg of weight. If a bear has not managed to accumulate a sufficient amount of fat over the summer and autumn, in winter it awakens and begins to wander through the forest in search of food. Such bears are usually called connecting rods. The connecting rods are dangerous and hungry, so they attack everyone, even humans. Most often, they rarely survive until the end of winter: they die from frost, severe hunger, or from a hunter’s bullet.

Despite the fact that the brown bear's weight is impressive and it looks somewhat clumsy, it runs quite fast, swims well and climbs trees well. The paw strike is so powerful that it can break the back of a large bison or bull.

Reproduction

The female bears offspring once every 2-4 years. Estrus occurs at the end of spring - beginning of summer, lasting only 2-4 weeks. During the breeding season, males often fight among themselves, sometimes with fatal results. occurs with several males, the pregnancy is latent, and embryo development will begin only in November. Pregnancy lasts from 6 to 8 months, the birth itself occurs at the place of hibernation - in the den. There are up to 5 cubs in one litter. I wonder how much a bear weighs at birth if it later reaches that size? Cubs weigh 340-680 grams at birth, their length is 25 cm. They are born completely blind and deaf, with almost no hair. Hearing appears only 14 days after birth, and they become sighted after a month. By 3 months they have baby teeth and can eat berries. The mother bear feeds the cubs with milk for up to 30 months. As a rule, the father does not take part in raising the offspring; on the contrary, he may eat the bear cub because he sees it as a potential rival. Cubs begin to live independently without their mother at about 3-4 years of age.

Security

The brown bear is listed in the Red Book. This animal is vulnerable due to the high mortality rate of young animals and slow reproduction. But recently the population has been growing. According to some data, there are about 200 thousand individuals in the world, 120,000 of which live in Russia, 14,000 in Europe, 32,500 in the USA (most of them in Alaska), 21,500 in Canada. Bear hunting in many countries is limited or completely prohibited.

Greetings, dear readers of the site “I and the World”! Today you will learn about the largest bears in the world: their habits and habitat, which specimens are very dangerous and which are quite harmless. But, in any case, it is undesirable to meet with them; the outcome of this meeting is unlikely to be in your favor.

From Russian fairy tales we know about bears as clumsy and stupid animals. Because of their weight, they really seem slow, but this is not so, they can reach such speed that it is difficult to escape from them even on a bicycle. You should get to know them better in order to know what to expect from them if you meet them by chance while traveling around the world, as well as: what they look like, how much they weigh, where they live, etc.

And our rating opens with “Black Bear” or Baribal

His black coat glistens in the sun of the USA and Canada. Less common in northern Mexico. It is in these countries that this animal lives and weighs from 300 to 360 kg.

The largest male is 363 kg. It was killed in Canada - this is the largest Baribal ever caught by man. The animals are quite harmless. They do not attack people or domestic animals and live quietly and peacefully, eating plant foods and fish.

Very rarely, when there is not enough food, Baribal can drag off livestock. With a height of up to two meters, Baribal cubs are born so small that their weight ranges from 200 to 400 grams.

In captivity: in zoos and circuses they can live up to 30 years, but in nature only 10. Now there are about 600,000 individuals.

In 4th place - American Grizzly

Among brown bears, he is the strongest, but not so big. The grizzly bear is very resilient and if there is a fight with another large animal, the animal has an instant grip, which leads to victory. It is considered friendly, but if there is not enough food or feels aggression, the kind nature disappears. The Grizzly's rather strong sense of smell allows it to sense prey at a great distance. It feeds on plant foods, loves fish, and like any predator, does not refuse animal food.

It lives in Alaska and western Canada and reaches 450 kg.

Grizzly in translation means “terrible”, but it does not try to attack people just like that, but only when it is hungry or very angry. In such rare cases, Grizzly was said to be a cannibal. During the rest of the time when it is rich in prey, it is not dangerous.

Brown Siberian bear takes third place

The dimensions of the Russian Siberian reach: weight up to 800 kg, and height up to 2.5 meters. This is a big fish lover, living near the Anadyr, Kolyma and Yenisei rivers. Sometimes found in Chinese provinces.

Although the warm season in these places is short, there is a lot of plant and animal food and allows you to gain a lot of weight.

Siberians are loners and hibernate during the winter. They fish very interestingly: when salmon jump out of the water, the bears try to catch them in the air.

2nd place – one of the brown specimens – Kodiak

They live on the shores of Alaska on Kodiak Island. The brown beast got its name from this island. The largest bear in the world among the brown species. A muscular animal with long legs, the Kodiak easily obtains numerous foods.

They grow 2.6 meters long and gain up to 1000 kg. The height of an adult predator can be up to 2.8 meters.

There was a time when animals could completely disappear, and therefore they were prohibited from being shot. Now their number is increasing, but so far only 3000.

They do not attack people, and therefore do not pose a danger to tourists. But for the animals themselves, these encounters are quite unpleasant. Animals, frightened by strangers, stop eating normally and gain too little fat before hibernation. And an animal caught for the sake of keeping it in a zoo may simply not survive in captivity.

And finally, first place - Polar Bear

Wikipedia believes that the white bear is the world's largest bear, living in the Arctic and reaching a mass of 1 ton or even more. This predatory animal reaches 3 meters in length - how huge!

This is a real record in weight among all species. Can you imagine such a huge beast, like a white steamer, slowly moving among the snow. The paws also have fur, so they move easily on the ice and do not freeze in the most severe frosts.

On the island of Spitsbergen there are even more polar bears than people living there. The long neck with a flat head allows it to stretch out and see far.

It is clear that living among the snow on drifting ice, it feeds on animal food: sea hare, fish, walruses, arctic foxes. Just like brown ones, they live alone and until about 30 years old. Only females hibernate when they are pregnant, in order to gain strength to raise the next generation.

There are 28,000 polar bears all over the world, and about 6,000 in Russia alone. And although hunting them is strictly prohibited, poachers kill up to 200 bears every year.

In the photo you saw the largest bears on earth. They are all listed in the Red Book, but poachers do not think about this, destroying animals for the sake of a beautiful skin. Over the entire history of mankind, so many of these animals have been destroyed that many populations are difficult to increase again.

We say goodbye to you until our next meetings on the pages of our website. If you liked the article, share it with your friends, they will also be interested in it.

Among the largest bears one can distinguish the Kodiak brown bear, grizzly bear, and polar bear. These are all animals of enormous weight and length. There is also a record holder among teddy toy bears.

The largest teddy bear

The record-breaking teddy bear, recognized as the largest in the world, greeted visitors to the plush toy museum every day for almost twenty years, standing at the entrance. The museum was located in the city of Statford. All this time he was the subject of admiration for young visitors. The height of this toy is three meters and thirty centimeters. It's hard to imagine the weight of this giant.

Over the years, the exhibition was visited by at least a million people. Unfortunately, the museum was closed in 2007, and this bear, like the rest of the exhibits, was put up for sale.

Big polar bears

Polar bears have several other names - polar bear, sea bear, northern bear and oshkuy. The polar bear descended from the brown bear. The largest specimens grow up to three meters or more and can weigh about eight hundred kilograms, however, this is very rare. Usually the male is within the length of two to two and a half meters, his weight does not exceed half a ton.

Externally, the oshkuy and the brown bear have noticeable differences. The polar bear's head is flat on an elongated neck, and its ears are small. The wool is not only white, but also yellowish. It's amazing that all polar bears have black skin. This is impossible to notice due to the dense fur.

Oshkuy lives in the northern hemisphere and feeds on walruses, seals, seals and other marine animals. To catch them, the bear hides in a shelter and then stuns them with a blow to the head.

Polar bears have long been listed in the Red Book. The reason is that they reproduce slowly, and their young often become prey to other predators. These bears are hunted by poachers. Every year they destroy at least two hundred individuals.

Huge Kodiak bears

One of the subspecies of brown bears is the Kodiak. It is the largest among the planet's predators. This is confirmed by its size. The height at the withers of an individual of this subspecies reaches one and a half meters, and the length is about four meters. The weight of the giant bear is also striking. So, a female weighs a quarter of a ton, and an adult male weighs almost four hundred and fifty kilograms. These parameters are average, and there are specimens that reach a weight of one ton.

The habitat of this subspecies is Kodiak Island and the islands of the Kodiak archipelago, that is, where winter does not last long and there is always a lot of different food. Like other bears, Kodiaks hibernate in winter. Their food is not only animals, these bears do not refuse carrion, they eat roots, berries and herbs. During the salmon spawning period, Kodiaks enjoy eating it with pleasure.

Animals mate in the summer, and the development of a fertilized cell begins in the fall. No more than three cubs are born in January or February, when the female is in a state of hibernation. Children remain with their mother for the first three years of life.

Kodiaks are an endangered subspecies of brown bears. There are less than three thousand of them left. However, according to official permission, one hundred and sixty individuals are shot annually.

The largest grizzlies

Another large subspecies of brown bear, considered the second largest in size after the Kodiak, is called the grizzly. Its habitat is Alaska and Canada. Until recently, grizzlies could be found in Mexico. Outwardly, he is not particularly different from other brown bears. The only difference is the length of its claws, which can reach fifteen centimeters. It is for this reason that grizzlies never climb trees.

Some individuals weigh about a ton and are about four meters long. From a distance, grizzlies appear slightly grayish, the reason being that, being brown, they are covered in gray fur in some places. While bears are small, their claws are still very small, which allows grizzlies to climb trees, destroy hives and eat plant foods.

The main diet of an adult is animal food. Grizzly is an excellent fisherman. It is very dangerous for a person to encounter this predator. He can deliver a fatal blow with one blow of his paw. It is known that this subspecies of brown bear and polar bear can interbreed.

The biggest bear in the world

The largest bear in history is considered to be a giant short-faced cave bear that once lived in South America. He is known as Arctodus. According to scientists, such bears lived from about two million years ago to five hundred thousand years ago.

The mass of the giant predator reached two tons, and its height was at least three and a half meters. The cave bear ate lions, woolly rhinoceroses, wolves, tigers, giant moose and deer. He had enormous bite force.

In Argentina in 1935, the skeleton of a short-faced cave bear was found. According to National Geographic, there is nothing in the world even remotely similar to such a powerful predator.

In 2006, a huge man-eating grizzly bear was killed in Alaska. If he could stand on his hind legs, he would be about four meters and thirty centimeters tall. The bear's weight turned out to be seven hundred twenty-six kilograms.

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