Bear Anatomy

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(12-10-2018, 05:35 PM)Rishi Wrote:

(12-10-2018, 03:26 PM)Panther Wrote: The following information is from Alaska's Official site..

"A bear’s weight varies with the season. Bears weigh least in the spring or early summer. They gain weight rapidly during late summer and fall and are waddling fat just prior to denning. At this time most mature males weigh between 500 and 900 lbs (180 – 410 kg) with extremely large individuals weighing as much as 1,400 lbs (640 kg)."
Source: http://www.adfg.alaska.gov/index.cfm%3Fa...nting.main

(12-10-2018, 03:22 PM)Panther Wrote: Let me make it clear...
The chart claiming 700lbs is definitely and most likely based on the chart which is based on 6+ year old individuals.

Once again 6+ means more than 6. Like 7, 8, 9, etc..
This is my logic.

Let's consider the following chart is based on individuals start from 7 year old (6+) age class. 

*This image is copyright of its original author

Then the 700lbs average chart is based on larger &older individuals than this. What that means? It means the age class might start from 7+(8 year old) individuals. 

These ones are better, but @brotherbear's point still stand. 
Try to understand what he is trying to say... As stated in post #116, the average including bears of age 6-7 year can be almost 50lbs lighter, than the one with only 9+ ones. 

That's similar to calculating adult male tiger/lion average weight by including all specimens aged 3+, compared to doing it with only 5+ ones.
Like a 4 year old tiger/lion, a 7 year old bear can gain considerable admit of body mass in next 1-2 years. 

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IMO all pre-prime & post-prime specimens should be included, right from the point they stop being "sub-adults".
The age, health condition, (for bears, time of the year) must be mentioned alongside as critical factors.

This is actually interesting issue to discuss if it can be discussed in reasonable way. What comes to weights of animals, bears are for sure one of the most problematic to compare. Especially if comparisons are made based on researches which are made by different researcher groups in different times. Ideally there should be bears from same age groups, especially if talking about male bears under 9-10 years old. Females reach full size faster if I remember right. That concerns all brown bears naturally, not only Kodiak bears. Also weighing should have been done at same time of year because it is no secret, that from spring to autumn bears gain weight a lot every month. Knowing, that there are many kinds of researchers it is important to have more information and details, because especially when talking about bears, also details do matter.

I have seen a research saying, that at least in some parts of coastal area of Alaska bears are bigger (in average) than Kodiak bears, but it wasn´t one of the most convincing studies, that I´ve seen. And despite it, in sites of Alaskan officials Kodiak bears are told to be biggest also today. So it is logical to think, that they say it for some reason and not only making it up. Also is mentioned, that when looking at 20 biggest bears shot by hunters in Alaska, 17 are Kodiak bears. 

So here is for sure a good topic to look closer now. Who knows if situation is, that biggest individuals are Kodiaks but still in average bears on some other area are heavier... or not. I don´t care who is right or wrong here, this is interesting issue. If someone finds good information, it´s nice to see. Reply