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Bear Size ~
Bear Size ~
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Bear Size ~
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 (06-10-2016, 09:04 PM)Pckts Wrote: Captive specimens shouldn't be used to compare to wild. No captive bear eats a better weight-gaining diet than a wild polar bear. Thus your biggest polar bears are those in the wild feeding on seal, walrus, and whale blubber. Sure, there are those who claim the 2,200 pound polar bear as fact; which it might be. However, within the scientific community, it is my understanding that this weight remains unconfirmed. Fact: I am not claiming that brown bears are larger than polar bears. But, there have been individuals big enough to make it an interesting contest. 
Captive bears live in a man made habitat. Their diet, activity and general lifestyle is dictated by humans and thus they serve no purpose in comparison to a wild bear. Brown or white, the comparisons need to be done in an optimal setting for the bear and must be equally comparible. Far too many factors come into play in captivity from zoo to zoo.
I would also wager to guess that just like big cats, captive bears show specific signs that can separate them from their wild counterparts. So comparing them to each other would not be apples to apples.
I understand about captive animals Pckts. In the wild, as for confirmed weights, the heaviest polar bear weighed 1,541 pounds while the heaviest confirmed Kodiak bear weighed 1,653 pounds. This does not prove that Kodiak bears are bigger than polar bears. It does prove that the biggest brown bears are the polar bear's only real competition and that it is the polar bear's diet that makes him 'normally' the biggest.
I'm still confused as to why you don't accept the 2200lb mark? What specifically drives you to deny it?
(06-11-2016, 01:00 AM)Pckts Wrote: I'm still confused as to why you don't accept the 2200lb mark? What specifically drives you to deny it? Go back and read my posts Pckts. I never said that I deny it. I stated that the weight of this particular bear is not a confirmed weight. Who weighed the bear? On what scale was this bear supposedly weighed? Who witnessed the bear being weighed?
That's what I was curious about? I'm not on a PC at the moment so I can't do much research. But I'd find it hard to believe that their is no name accredited to the claim?
That'd be extremely odd since the bear has an alleged weight
http://shaggygod.proboards.com/
Sports Illustrated 1961 Text Extract: This fierce new competition has led to some bitter rhubarbs, with Fitz making supreme decisions from his trophy-tilled penthouse in Manhattan. The most recent controversy involved a mammoth polar bear killed by Arthur Dubs of Medford, Ore. Mounted, the bear stands 11 feet 1½ inches, the tallest ever. But Fitz and the B&C Club take the position that bear records are meaningful only if based on the size of the skull. "The taxidermists seem to operate on the principle that what the hunter wants is altitude," Fitz grumbles, "and they mount these bears straight up in a position no polar bear has ever taken. Then they measure the height. And this can vary by as much as a foot or two for the same size skin." One can only pity poor Dubs. He may well have taken the biggest polar bear ever, but he can't even submit the skull for measurement because a piece of it was chipped off in the dressing operation. He is left with a gargantuan trophy totally lacking in official status.  *This image is copyright of its original author
No measurements or weights of this bear can be confirmed. Not even the skull is on record. Pictured here is the skin of the big polar bear - no doubt a huge bear.
 *This image is copyright of its original author
So Arthur Dubs shot the bear, the skull was available just chipped in the process and skulls don't determine size of the bear every time, correct?
I'm going to look him up when I can, but obviously the bear was real and hopefully measurements are taken and specifics given about where or how it was weighed. Also, it doesn't matter if the bear is valid for hunting records, it's still valid for largest bear weighed. (06-11-2016, 01:56 AM)Pckts Wrote: So Arthur Dubs shot the bear, the skull was available just chipped in the process and skulls don't determine size of the bear every time, correct? This was a huge bear! Perhaps the biggest ever taken by a hunter. The key word here is "perhaps" as his weight and measurements cannot be confirmed. But, go ahead and dig for clues. Find what information you can.
https://www.nps.gov/katm/learn/photosmul...er_web.pdf
The largest bears frequenting the Brooks River are adult males, also called boars. Like full grown adult females, their bodies appear filled in, their heads appear smaller in proportion to their bodies, and their ears are generally wideset. Looking for genitalia is the easiest way to identify male bears, but you can also determine the sex of adult bears by watching them urinate. Male bears will urinate straight down between their hind legs. When male bears are shedding in the early summer, numerous scars are often visible. Due to their large size and strength, no other class of brown bear is able to compete physically with a large adult male. They can stand 3-5 feet (.9-1.5 m) at the shoulder and measure 7-10 (2.1-3 m) feet in length. Most adult males typically weigh 600-900 pounds (272-408 kg) in mid-summer. By October and November, large adult males can weigh well over 1000 pounds (454 kg). The best fishing spots at Brooks Falls are dominated by adult males. Hierarchy and displays of dominance play important roles in preventing these animals from entering into violent battles. Wounds, and their associated scars, are often received during fights with other males. These fights can be the result of competition for food resources (access or appropriation) or for the opportunity to mate with females.
See post #198 - Brown bears are underweight during the Spring months after their long Winter's sleep. During the Autumn and early Winter months, a brown bear is really fat. If you wish to compare the weight of a grizzly with that of any other bear or animal, you should use the brown bear's Summer weight. Those mature males of Brook's River generally weigh from 600 to 900 pounds.
Polar bears are generally fatter year' round, unlike other northern bears who get fatter depending upon the season. From what I've seen (I also have data on this), polar bear males of 1000-1300 pounds have a bodyfat percentage of 20-28%.
Brown bears are probably around that during the beginning of their hibernation. Are you able to get any studies or other information from ShaggyBoard forums for brown bear bodyfat percentages in differing seasons? As an old Inuit hunter said, "A healthy polar bear is one with a good deal of blubber." Polar bears really don't know when they will get their next meal: it's a simple matter of life or death in the Arctic regions these days. The fat keeps the bear's nutritional needs filled till the next hunt.
A grizzly has a huge advantage over his closest relative, the polar bear. When hunting, whether for live meat or a carcass, he can compensate by eating easy-to-digest vegetation, brood insects such as ants, termites, or bees, burrowing mammals, fish, or shell fish. For the polar bear, he must make a successful hunt or starve; unless he really gets lucky and discovers a beached whale.
My favorite bear is the inland grizzly. He has to be more inventive when it comes to finding enough food each day, unlike his coastal brothers who take advantage of the salmon run each year.  *This image is copyright of its original author
That picture is almost mystical! I can feel the background. tfs
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