Bear Size ~

[brotherbear]

Polar bear grow bigger in the wild than in captivity. This is true. What zoo or circus could feed a bear a more weight-gaining meal than pure blubber? As for Clyde and Goliath, there is no doubt that they were huge. I'm not sure that their weights can be varified though. I believe that a Kodiak and possibly a Kamchatka brown bear might reach an extreme max of perhaps 2,000 pounds in captivity; or perhaps on a polar bears diet. But in the wild or in captivity in rare cases, I think that 1500 pounds is pretty much their normal max. 
The polar bear is the bigger bear. He can outweigh the biggest brown bear by several hundred pounds. He is taller at shoulder height and at bipedal height. But, he has a few tricks up his sleeve. A polar bear has the longest legs of any living bear. This adds to his height. He has a longer neck and a long narrow skull adding length. Polar bears have an extra layer of fat for insulation and bouyancy. This adds weight. Polar bears are the world's largest and heaviest bears without a doubt. I'm just saying that the Kodiak bears, the biggest of the grizzlies comes in a close second. It's like comparing an African lion to a Bengal tiger. When you put them face-to-face, the size difference is not immediately obvious. 
Also keep in mind that when we look at a bear's family tree, we find the polar bear on the brown bear's branches. Even though scientifically the polar bear carries a different family name, Ursus maritimus, he is still basically a brown bear perfectly adapted to his arctic environment. 
Oh, and let's not forget the record Kodiak who weighed 1,600 pounds in the wild. I would call this polar bear sized. We have no way of knowing how many reach such weights as so very few are weighed. When it comes to size, no terrestrial predator living today can outmatch the polar bear. The Kodiak bear is often listed as the world's largest living terrestrial predator only because the polar bear is listed as aquatic.      Reply