The "King" of the bears - comparison between the Polar bear and the Brown bear

[Shadow]

(12-15-2018, 08:49 PM)Shadow Wrote:

(12-15-2018, 08:28 AM)GuateGojira Wrote: So, the weight of 611 kg from the largest Alaska bear in scientific records (that I have saw) is a "fat" weight, while the figure of 540 kg is a "lean" weight, which is more reliable, am I correct?

With the maximum average at about 379 kg for the largest brown bear population, it seems clear that the winner for the title of the "king" of bears is still  the polar bear, with an average weight of 489 kg at Hudson Bay (94 males over 5 years old) and a maximum weigh of 699 kg recorded in Alaska (some males were to heavy to be lift and were estimated to weight 800 kg).

Did polar bears also suffer from the "age and season" issue like the brown bears? I think is a relevant question.

That 540 kg is spring weight and looks like to be different bear, than that 611 kg bear obviously. Reasoning for this is, that it is commonly agreed, that Kodiak bears (and other brown bears) gain weight from spring to autumn at least 20-30 %.

Then again there is in one chart mentioned, that reserchers used multiplier 1,24 to make spring weighings of male bears comparable with other weighings.

With that multiplier we get estimation, that 540 kg spring weight means about 670 kg bear on autumn. Then again with same calculation reversed that 611 kg autumn weight would be about 493 kg spring weight. If we assume, that scientist know what they are doing when creating multipliers :)

What comes to brown bear populations and subspecies, that is one issue. But what comes to polar bears and Kodiak bears, I think, that it doesn´t matter when Kodiak bears are weighed (or any other brown bear), because fat layer is natural part of them and same thing is with polar bear. Polar bears just wear it all the time. So I think, that it would be quite unfair to compare only spring weighed brown bears, when comparing to animal having even up to 50% of their body mass fat in layer 3-4,5 inches thick.

Here is one link: http://icestories.exploratorium.edu/disp...index.html

Still polar bear is bigger and heavier as far as I know. But when making comparison between polar bears and brown bears, I think that then weighing time of brown bear is not as relevant as it is when comparing brown bear subspecies/populations between each others.

Main thing of course is, that we know and realize relevant things to be able to do fair and reasonable comparisons.

Hmmm.... I made here a mistake, it has been some time since last time looking closer to polar bears. But even though they don´t hibernate (except pregnant females), they also have variation in weight and can lose a lot of fat reserves when sea is unfrozen and they can´t hunt seals at least in some areas. So also with polar bears it is important to know, that when they have been weighed and in which condition. Complex animals... :) Reply