Bear Size ~

[Polar]

(01-10-2016, 06:58 AM)brotherbear Wrote: Polar, I do not doubt the 2,210 pound record-sized polar bear. It is not beyond the realm of possibilities. Kodiaks have been recorded at 2,000 pounds in captivity. There may be some of such size in the wild; hunters rarely weigh their kills. Also, according to both Grraahh and my old friend Big Bonns, the biggest grizzly is the older and wiser bear who knows how to avoid humans. When the ( rangers ) do their annual bear studies, they are most interested in population size and the health of the bears. Measuring and weighing bears is not their top priority. Therefore, they do not spend long hours or days seeking out big bears. They simply routinely tranquilize bears at random. Also, when they claim an average size for adult male bears, they include bears as young as 5 years old. This is like including 12 or 13 year old boys into the average size of mature men. 
Bottom line, the polar bear is the world's biggest bear with the Kodiak bears running a close second.   

Referring to the supposed "2,210 pound specimen," it was a wild one, not captive. But all brown bears >1800 pounds that I've heard of were all raised in captivity, coupled with the fact that polar bears are larger in the wild than in captivity (in every other carnivore, it's the opposite). Theoretically, among modern bears, brown bears can obtain weights up to massive polar bears only if they were captive. In today's environment, I doubt a brown bear could reach the size of 2,400-pound Clyde, but back then, maybe they could? The thing is, modern polar bear weights aren't as diverse as before and the prey around their region (in fact, all regions besides Foxe Basin) are incredibly depleted. The aforementioned specimen was found on Kotzebue Sound in northern Alaska (which was and still is a prey-depleted site). I don't get how that polar bear could grow up to such sizes. Reply