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Bears
Brown Bears (Info, Pics and Videos)
Brown Bears (Info, Pics and Videos)
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Brown Bears (Info, Pics and Videos)
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This is from Soldotna (Kenai Peninsula, Alaska), September 2011. A big bear was shot when it was in residential area. It was weighed so, that carcass, hide and head separately to be close to 1000 lbs. If blood wasn´t taken into account, maybe slightly over, anyway a big bear.
 *This image is copyright of its original author  *This image is copyright of its original author  *This image is copyright of its original author Photos courtesy of Keain Dillon, via the Soldotna Police Department. A large brown bear was killed by Soldotna Police Officer Victor Dillon on Thursday in a residential neighborhood. The bear had been reportedly causing problems in the area for days. Quote: "Jeff Selinger, area wildlife biologist with Fish and Game, said it was the largest bear he’s seen dispatched on the Kenai Peninsula since he took over his position slightly more than a decade ago. “Standing on its hind legs, it was probably 10-plus feet,” he said. “Even after skinning, its hide was a legitimate 9 ½-square feet, and that’s nose to tail and paw to paw.” From evaluation of the bear’s teeth, which were in good condition including intact canines, it appeared the bear was around 12 to 15 years old, but a tooth will be pulled for analysis to determine its exact age. It is not uncommon for bears to live into their mid-20s to early 30s. “We weighed its carcass, hide and head separately, but totaled the bear’s weight was close to 1,000 pounds,” Selinger said. “He had a good layer of fat and good musculature. He was in good condition, not emaciated at all, so it’s unclear why he was in town in the middle of the day, other than it’s fall and bears are in their final push to put on weight and looking for food wherever they can find it.” The bear did have an old scar from what at one time would have been a large wound on its elbow, which may have been what caused the reports of the bear being injured. However, Selinger said that the muscles in both the bear’s front legs were the same, and the pads and claws were also worn evenly, so it is unlikely that the old injury still plagued him much, if at all. Kenny Jones, of Skulls and Bones taxidermy shop, also said the bear was the largest he remembers working on from the Kenai Peninsula. “It took three of us to roll him just while skinning, and that was on a flat trailer,” Jones said. “This guy could have killed you just by lying on you. And its skull was huge. I don’t think I’ve seen a skull that big in four or five years, and the last time I did it was from the Alaska Peninsula.”  *This image is copyright of its original author Photo by Joseph Robertia, Redoubt Reporter. Kenny Jones, of Skulls and Bones Taxidermy, where the bear was skinned for the Alaska Department of Fish and Game, holds up the paw of the big bear, which is nearly as wide as his torso. Source: https://redoubtreporter.wordpress.com/20...-soldotna/ 
This one seems to be a very experienced coastal grizzly; never seen such a tough looking brown bear before, what an amazing picture...
 *This image is copyright of its original author
Three massive Katmai males giving their best impressions; the first one is estimated to weigh 1500lbs and described as the biggest boar in the whole Katmai NP by the guides that follow him around. They were photographed by Brad Josephs and Scott Stone.
 *This image is copyright of its original author  *This image is copyright of its original author  *This image is copyright of its original author
The reason why Ussuri brown bears are one of the most highly aggressive brown bear subspecies is most likely due to the fact that they have to face predation from tigers.
In prehistoric times, the brown bear also faced danger from other large apex predators such as dire wolves, sabre-tooth cats and short-faced bears. This probably explains why the Ussuri ( Himalayan black bear ) black bear, which are regularly preyed on by tigers, are far more aggressive and fierce than American black bears.  *This image is copyright of its original author https://www.google.co.uk/books/edition/T...frontcover
Short pictorial on Van, my favourite brown bear. Not only does he get closer to a very respectable age (close to 25y) but he also does fairly well with the females as of now as confirmed by Katmai park guide Scot Stones who I regularly contact on Instagram to give me updates on the bears. One thing I'll always have in mind is this monster killing an adult female coastal grizzly (who weigh about 200-220kg on average) in a matter of seconds, absolutely astonishing and diabolical. Not only do we look at probably the biggest brown bear that has ever lived in this case but we can see what the throne for brown bears looks like; a symbol of courage, stamina, strength and of course a lot of battle scars along with a partially torn off ear (which occured when he still was a cub).
In His Prime (most footage is taken from "The Great Bear Stakeout", 2013; he was most likely around 14y old during this documentary)  *This image is copyright of its original author  *This image is copyright of its original author  *This image is copyright of its original author  *This image is copyright of its original author Defending His Throne (Competition gets more and more serious in 2016/17; Van can already be considered an old bear at 17y of age)  *This image is copyright of its original author  *This image is copyright of its original author  *This image is copyright of its original author  *This image is copyright of its original author  *This image is copyright of its original author Getting Beaten Up (In 2019/20 Van looks quite shaggy and not necessarily healthy; he is pushed out of his territory on various occasions by much younger and stronger rivals; he seems to have lost some body mass too)  *This image is copyright of its original author  *This image is copyright of its original author  *This image is copyright of its original author  *This image is copyright of its original author Regaining the Throne? (In 2021 Van makes a surprising comeback to a great physique; he drives the females crazy as an old man of 22y and regains confidence as well as physicality)  *This image is copyright of its original author  *This image is copyright of its original author This is what the absolute peak of modern mammalian and terrestrial carnivores looks like; unfortunately he has never been weighed but there have been conservative estimates of 1400lbs up to 1800lbs in his absolute peak. One thing we know is that Van is the biggest bear that has ever been seen in Katmai National Park as confirmed by multiple guides working there. I hope he'll reach the 25 and create an even bigger legacy than he already has. Legend.
A large resident female Grizzly bear, which has to be one of the cutest and cuddliest bears I've ever seen. Watch how she sniffs the air for the elk carcass, she looks very cute:
She's also a powerful bear, she usurps the elk carcass from a young adult male grizzly bear, and he does not dare to contest her for the carcass. Other bears would only approach the elk carcass when this big female wasn't present.
Watch Two Alaskan Monster Grizzly Bears Go at It
May 8, 2023 Two humongous male grizzly bears square off in one of the craziest, most mesmerizing battles caught on video  *This image is copyright of its original author Naturalist and Alaskan wildlife guide Brad Josephs recently shared what he calls “the longest, most intense bear interaction I have ever witnessed in my 25 years of guiding on the Alaska peninsula” on his YouTube channel. Intense is right. The battle between the two enormous males was captured on May 8, 2023, at Lake Clark National Park and Preserve in Alaska. Josephs told Outside, “In my 25 years guiding brown bear photography and film crew expeditions, this was by far the longest duration and greatest intensity of any bear fight I have ever seen. It just kept going and going. I was astounded by the determination and stamina of both bears as they battled for mating season dominance rights.” Bear fights are raw, powerful, and often over quickly. These grizzly males are healthy and strong, and neither is ready to give an inch. This confrontation is like a 15-round bout. Male grizzlies weigh on average between 400 – 700 pounds and these big boys are definitely in the heavyweight division. Think you can pick the winner before watching the video? You may be surprised at the outcome. Brad Josephs is a wildlife biologist and wilderness guide with a specialty in bear biology and ecology of the north. Josephs is also an expert photographer and has taught photo and film classes for over 20 years. His work focuses mainly on the bears and wolves of Alaska and northwest Canada. You can follow his amazing images and videos on his YouTube Channel, Instagram, and his Bears & Beyond website. https://www.outsideonline.com/outdoor-ad...ars-fight/ https://www.livescience.com/animals/bear...pic-battle
Here you can see Doug Seus and little Bart, a huge brown bear weighting around 400kg (i don't remember the exact value), 2 times larger than a tiger, and even larger than giant prehistoric cats like Panthera atrox. You can see how massive is the neck musculature. You can really appreciate the extraordinary work that Doug Seus has accomplished as a trainer.
Records of brown bears (Grizzlies) killing polar bears
From "Mitchell Taylor (1995) Grizzly Bear Sightings in Viscount Melville Sound". Mitchell Taylor is a scientist who has conducted extensive research on polar bear for a very long time.  *This image is copyright of its original author "On 4 May 1991 a grizzly bear was sighted about 40 miles south of Dundas Peninsula, Melville Island (73° 47' N, 112° 17' W), on the sea-ice of Viscount Melville Sound. From tracks it was apparent that the grizzly bear had been hunting seal pups in birth lairs. The remains of two kills (presumably seal pups) were observed in the vicinity of where the bear was seen. The bear was immobilized, ear tagged, lip tattooed, weighed, measured, and examined. The bear was an adult male weighing approximately 700lbs. The bear was in good condition, had no broken teeth, and no visible scars or wounds. The testes were small and not descended, indicating the bear was not mating. The bear was lightly drugged, and was able to lift its head and move its paws before we left it."  *This image is copyright of its original author A grizzly had killed 2 year old polar bear cub. It was presumed to be the same bear. "On 7 May 1991 Joseph Haluksit from Holman Island encountered a grizzly bear about 40km NW of Barnard Point. The grizzly bear was seen near a seven-foot, un-sexed two-year-old polar bear cub that had been killed and partially eaten. The grizzly bear had eaten part of the hindquarters and partially buried the carcass. The grizzly bear appeared to be a large male and was presumed to be the same bear that had been captured earlier. From wounds on the polar bear, blood spread around the area, and tracks, the hunters concluded that the grizzly bear had killed the polar bear, then eaten the hindquarters."  *This image is copyright of its original author Grizzly bears scavenge polar bear kills and kill seals of all ages. It has been suggested polar bears evolved from barren-ground grizzly bears. "Grizzly bears are known to venture onto the sea-ice to scavenge from polar bear kills and hunt adult and newborn seals. Two grizzly bears have been observed in Wager Bay, one of which was on a seal kill. Both researchers and local people have observed grizzly bears and grizzly bear tracks on sea-ice in the Amundson Gulf area. Kurten suggested that polar bears evolved from barren land grizzly bears that were forced onto the sea-ice when glaciers advanced north (as well as south) during the Pleistocene."  *This image is copyright of its original author Mitchell Taylor (Polar bear expert) was of the impression that the bear observed on May 4th could catch (i.e kill) an adult polar bear sow or subadult. "I suggest that this grizzly bear has somehow learned to exploit the sea-ice habitat in spring. Perhaps it ventured onto Banks Island or Victoria Island to exploit Muskox calves, perhaps it dispersed as a sub-adult, perhaps it is only a curious bear that has learned to exploit marine and terrestrial habitat. In the course of hunting seal pups it probably encountered polar bears, and was able to kill one for food. Large male polar bears are not as fast as female or sub-adult polar bears. My impression was that the grizzly bear we observed on 4 May could catch a sub-adult or adult female polar bear."  *This image is copyright of its original author Polar bears : proceedings of the eleventh Working Meeting of the IUCN/SSC Polar Bear Specialist Group, 25-27 January 1993, Copenhagen, Denmark LINK Key take-aways from this report
A very nice image of a grizzly bear in Melville Island. From "Most Northerly Observation of a Grizzly Bear ( Ursus arctos ) in Canada: Photographic and DNA Evidence from Melville Island, Northwest Territories"  *This image is copyright of its original author
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