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+----- Thread: Russian Brown Bears (/topic-russian-brown-bears)
RE: Russian Brown Bears - brotherbear - 09-29-2015
From post #694, Edge of Extinction - Tigers:
Peter says: ~The photographs I saw suggest Yellowstone brown bears are a bit more rounded than male Amur brown bears. With rounded, I mean loaded with humps, bumps and curves. Amur brown bears have a somewhat longer skull, larger ears and a longer neck. They also seem to be taller at the shoulder than at the hip. Males in particular appear more athletic than their American relatives.
I have noticed this difference as well. The build of the Russian bear appears similar in some respects as the build of the peninsula grizzly of Alaska. I suppose that each brown bear population is shaped by its particular environment. I also agree that with living among tigers and wild boar, the Russian bear is certain to have a nastier temperament than his American cousins.
Where is that comparison picture?
RE: Russian Brown Bears - GrizzlyClaws - 09-29-2015
Some Amur Brown bear just looks like a black Grizzly.
http://loveforruka.deviantart.com/art/Manchurian-King-377558280
https://www.flickr.com/photos/ritapetita/sets/72157605121725875/
Here is the Amur Brown bear with long muzzle, also notice the black fur and slender appearance.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rSFfpK4CnYg
RE: Russian Brown Bears - brotherbear - 09-29-2015
The bear called "Blackie" is a gorgeous Ussuri brown bear, and huge! The video of the lions and bears are in Japan ( if I remember correctly ). I do remember that they were put together as small cubs. The bears and the lions are all very near the same age, but at this time the lions were fully mature while the bears are still juveniles. If you look at a fully matured Hokkaido brown bear, they are much more heavily built.
RE: Russian Brown Bears - GrizzlyClaws - 09-30-2015
The bears and lions in the video is from a Chinese zoo, so these bears are juvenile Manchurian (Amur) Brown bears.
RE: Russian Brown Bears - brotherbear - 09-30-2015
Thanks for the info GrizzlyClaws. There are so many names given to brown bears. Manchurian, Amur, or Ussuri; Ursus arctos lasiotus. The Japanese bear called Hokkaido brown bear appears little different. Anyway, nice pictures and video.
RE: Russian Brown Bears - GrizzlyClaws - 09-30-2015
The Hokkaido Brown bear should be the synonym of the Ursus arctos lasiotus, and the Ursus arctos horribilis should be its descendants.
RE: Russian Brown Bears - brotherbear - 10-07-2015
Here is a bear I have no information on: Mongolian brown bear - U.a. jeniseensis. This one is a mystery to me. Mongolian brown bear - Ursus arctos jeniseensis.
RE: Russian Brown Bears - brotherbear - 10-28-2015
From my book, 'Land of the Bear' by Denny Geurink ( 2014 ). Russia is called Land of the Bear for a reason. Out of the 200,000 brown bears roaming the northern hemisphere in a dozen or more countries, approximately two-thirds of them, or 120,000 bears, reside in Russia. Compare that to the 32,000 found in the United States - of which 95 percent live in Alaska - and the 21,000 found in Canada, and you get a pretty good picture of why the brown bear is so closely identified with Russian culture. The brown bear is one of the most widespread and popular animals in Russia, where it has been long considered to be the country's national symbol. It appears on coins, flags, street signs, maps, billboards, and even beer bottles. In 1980 the brown bear was chosen as the official mascot of the Moscow Olympics.
RE: Russian Brown Bears - Roflcopters - 10-28-2015
Are those the actual number of bears in Russia?
RE: Russian Brown Bears - brotherbear - 10-29-2015
Roflcopters, the book was written by hunters. I don't know the source of their information, but I have read similar numbers from sources other than this book.
RE: Russian Brown Bears - brotherbear - 10-29-2015
From my book, ‘Land of the Bear’ by Denny Geurink: There are several reasons why there are so many brown bears in Russia. First, the habitat is perfect for them. The country is covered with dense forests and wilderness areas flush with the perfect bear foods, from the salmon-rich Kamchatka Peninsula to the pine nut rich forests of Siberia. Secondly, the human population in Russia is very widespread. Once you get outside the major cities, the population is very rural. Thirdly, after the Bolshevik Revolution in 1912, guns and hunting disappeared from Russia. This allowed bear populations to explode. While this is good for the bear, it wasn’t always so good for the rural Russian population.
With so many bears in Russia, and so many remote villages located in bear habitat, its no wonder that there are five times as many people killed by bears in Russia as there are in the United States. Studies show that, on average, there are two recorded fatal bear attacks a year in the United States; there are at least 10 fatal attacks a year in Russia. A lot more people are attacked and not killed. In years there is a poor salmon run or pine nut crop, these numbers can double.
There are documented cases in Eastern Siberia where some bears have become man-eaters during times when natural foods are scarce. At least two bears in this region have been identified as killing and eating 12 people each.
RE: Russian Brown Bears - Roflcopters - 10-29-2015
thats insanely high, im glad im not roaming around the Russian wilderness.
RE: Russian Brown Bears - brotherbear - 11-11-2015
Not so much about bears, but I like this: from 'Land of the Bear' by Denny Geurink: "We are just like Americans," one of my guides, a KGB operative named Sergey, told me back in 1991. "We just want to be happy. We want to have enough food to eat, clothes to wear and a place to live. We never hated the Americans. We never wanted to fight you. Let the politicians fight each other. We want to be friends. We just want to live a normal life."
RE: Russian Brown Bears - brotherbear - 11-11-2015
From the book; 'Land of the Bear': Late April of 2005 found myself and my hunting partner Keith Jefffries on a Magadan Airways flight from Anchorage AK to Magadan, Russia. The purpose of the trip was a long-awaited and highly-anticipated two-week hunt for the Siberian version of Ursus arctos horribilis. We had heard stories about these bears being much more plentiful and aggressive than their Alaskan cousins, so we were extremely excited about our adventure.
RE: Russian Brown Bears - brotherbear - 11-14-2015
http://www.ifaw.org/united-states/our-work/animal-rescue/saving-brown-bears-russia
Saving brown bears in Russia
Around the world, safe wild places for bears are disappearing. Mankind is destroying bear habitat at an alarming rate and bears are being hunted all over the world.
IFAW’s Bear Rescue Center in Russia has successfully returned more than 200 bears to the wild.
Working out of Bubonitsy, Russia, this groundbreaking project has become a world leader in bear rehabilitation, and we have shared its successful techniques with bear rehabilitation projects around the world.
Hunting brown bears
For years in Russia, wealthy trophy hunters would pay US$2,000 each to participate in a ‘winter den hunt’ of brown bears. Dogs would rouse bears from hibernation and hunters would shoot them as they emerged from their dens.
If the bear was female, then newborn cubs often faced an sad fate. Some of the cubs would would be left behind to freeze or starve to death and others were given to local villagers as pets or to mobile zoos and circuses. There is also a demand for bear meat in hunting restaurants.
Since 1997, IFAW has supported efforts to rescue and rehabilitate orphaned cubs. We have also been an active campaigner to end the winter den hunt and in 2011, thanks to our efforts, Russia finally passed new ‘Rules of the Hunt’ legislation, which significantly reduces the hunting season for bears and specifically excludes the winter season when bears are hibernating in their dens.
Saving orphaned bear cubs
Our rehabilitation center rescues cubs, some of which are only days old. At IFAW’s Bear Rescue Center, located 350 km northwest of Moscow, bears are bottle-fed and cared for. When they are old enough, they are released into a large natural enclosure where they are able to learn about the forest in a safe environment. And then when bears are old enough and acclimatized, they are released to the wild in proximity to where they were found.
We helped build a new shelter next to the forest for the bears with a separate observation room. In addition, we funded the drilling of a well for drinking water, built a den house for the bear cubs and purchased fodder, medicine and other supplies.