Animal · Russia, United States, Canada
Brown bear
Ursus arctos — the name this animal has in the language scientists everywhere share.
The brown bear is a powerful, shaggy-coated bear found across forests and mountains from North America to Europe and Asia. It is one of the largest land predators alive today.
Picture credit: Frank Vassen (CC BY 2.0) · Clément Bardot (CC BY-SA 4.0) · kallerna (CC BY-SA 3.0) · Wikimedia Commons
Where does the brown bear live?
Home: Forests, mountains and tundra across the Northern Hemisphere.
In the wild you find it in: Russia, United States, Canada, Romania, Finland, Sweden, Norway, Slovakia.
Conservation status from the IUCN: not in danger.
The short profile
Fully grown it measures up to 2.8 m long standing on hind legs. It weighs about 270 kilograms. On the menu: both plants and meat.
The story behind it
Despite its name, a brown bear's fur can range from blonde to almost black. In autumn, coastal brown bears in Alaska gather at rivers to catch leaping salmon, sometimes eating over 40 kg of fish a day to build up fat for winter. They then sleep through the cold months in a den, a deep rest called torpor that is not quite true hibernation. Brown bears are actually omnivores and eat far more berries, roots and insects than meat. Thanks to strong protection in many countries, brown bear populations are stable overall, even though some small groups remain at risk.
Find it on the globe
Brown bear is there as a tiny animated figure that breathes and looks around. From far away the planet is only a blue ball; detail arrives as you zoom in, and this one appears once you are close enough. Open it on the globe.
It sits at its real coordinates, not near them — the same numbers listed in the facts above. Switch off the layer for this kind of place and it disappears again; the buttons for that are down the right-hand edge.
Questions children ask
Do brown bears really hibernate?
Brown bears go into a deep winter rest called torpor rather than true hibernation, since their body temperature drops only slightly. They can wake up quickly if disturbed, unlike animals in full hibernation.
What do brown bears eat?
Brown bears eat mostly plants, berries and roots, but they also catch fish like salmon and occasionally hunt small mammals. Their diet changes with the season depending on what food is available.
Are brown bears dangerous?
Brown bears are powerful and can be dangerous if surprised or if a mother is protecting her cubs, but they usually avoid people. Most attacks happen only when a bear feels threatened or startled.
Where these numbers come from
Every figure on this page was checked against public reference sources before publication. Where sources genuinely disagree, the text says so.
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