Russian Brown Bears

[brotherbear]

Quote: Variations on a Theme

The Brown Bear is a circumpolar species, mostly associated with the taiga, which itself girdles the northern hemisphere. Those from North America are traditionally known by the name given to them by the pioneering settlers, who called them 'Grizzlies' because of the silvery, or 'grizzled', tips to their hairs.

Brown Bears are extremely variable, occurring in all sizes and in several coat colours. These characteristics were once used as the basis for differentiating a plethora of species - with some justification. For instance, there is a tenfold weight difference between the Syrian Brown Bear - the kind usually seen in zoos - which tips the scales at 68 kg ( 150 pounds ), and a real bruiser from Alaska, rearing up to 3 m ( 10 ft ) tall and weighing half a ton or more! Nevertheless, contemporary zoological wisdom divines that they are all variations on the same theme, no matter where they live, and that they all belong to one and the same species - Ursus arctos. Reply