The ursus arctos horribilis are a subspecies of brown bears native to North America. While all grizzly bears are brown bears, not all brown bears are grizzly bears. According to some experts, grizzly bears live inland, while North American brown bears live along the coast because it relies on food sources such as salmon. Meanwhile, Kodiak brown bears live in the Kodiak Islands of Alaska.
While habitats affect their appearance and behavior, there are no genetic differences between them. Therefore, most scientists simply refer to brown bears living in North America as "North American brown bears."
Scientific name: ursus arctos
Other names: North American brown bear
Notable features: Large brown bear with muscular shoulders.
Average size: 6.5 ft (1.98 m); 290 to 790 lb (130 to 360 kg)
Prescribed diet: omnivorous
Life expectancy: 25 years
Habitat: NorthwestErn North America
Phylum: Chordates
Class: Mammals
Family: Ursidae
Fun fact: Adult male grizzly bears weigh about twice as much as females.
description
Brown bears are easily distinguished from bears By the general muscles of black bears, the shoulders are bulging, the ears are short, and the hip width is lower than the width of the shoulders. Because grizzly bears have a lower diet of protein, they tend to be smaller than coastal brown bears, but they are still very large. The average female weighs between 130 and 180 kg (290 to 400 lb), while males typically weigh between 180 and 360 kg (400 and 790 lb).
Grizzly bears range in color from gold to black. Most are brown, with darker legs and grey or blond hairs on the back and sides. Their long claws are well suited for digging.
Initially, grizzly bears were distributed throughout much of North America, from Mexico to northern Canada. Hunting greatly narrows their range. Currently, there are about 55,000 grizzly bears in Alaska, Canada, Montana, Wyoming and Idaho.
The range of activity of grizzly bears varies with the seasons
Grizzly bears, like gray wolves, are the top predators in their range of activity. Grizzly bears prey larger prey (such as deer, bison, moose, elk, reindeer, and black bears), smaller prey (such as voles, marmots, ground squirrels, voles, bees, and moths), fish (such as trout, perch, and salmon), and shellfish. Grizzly bears are omnivorous, so they also eat grass, pine nuts, berries, and rhizomes.
Grizzly bears feed on corpses, and if they can, they eat human food and garbage. Bears are known to kill and eat humans, but about 70% of human deaths are caused by females defending their cubs. Although adult grizzly bears have no natural enemies, young cubs may be killed by wolves or other brown bears.
Grizzly bears eat meat and grass
Grizzly bears reach sexual maturity around the age of five, and they mate in the summer. After embryo implantation, females will look for nests to survive the winter. If she doesn't gain enough weight in the summer, she will miscarry.
Grizzly bears don't really hibernate, but the female's energy is transferred to the embryo while sleeping. She gives birth to one to four cubs in the nest and feeds them until summer comes. The mother and cubs stay together and fiercely protect them for about two years, but if the bears meet later in life, she will drive them away and avoid them. Females do not mate when caring for their cubs, so the reproduction rate of grizzly bears is low.
Female bears live slightly longer than males. The average life expectancy is about 22 years for men and about 26 years for women. This discrepancy is most likely caused by male bear injuries while competing for a mate.
Grizzly bears can also breed with other brown bears, black bears, polar bears, and others. However, these hybrids are rare because species and subspecies usually do not overlap in range.
Males are twice as large as females
Grizzly bears are classified as "least worried" overall, and the number of species is stable. However, grizzly bears are considered a threat in the United States and are on the verge of extinction in parts of Canada. Threats include habitat invasion, environmental pollution and climate change. Grizzly bears are protected in North America, and the population of grizzly bears in Yellowstone National Park has increased from 136 in 1975 to about 700 in 2017.