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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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 (07-30-2019, 12:03 AM)Shadow Wrote: This photo is from zoo Orsa Björnparken, Sweden. This is interesting way to show to people sizes of two of their bears.@Shadow Thanks a lot for your valuable information and pictures really appreciated, it is a huge incredible Bear. It would be great to have information like that of larger Kodiak Bears in captivity too. 
@epaiva, I try to find some more information from this Swedish zoo, maybe have to call there. I have read some blogs of people, who have been in that zoo and they say, that this Peter the Great is truly a very big, huge bear. And when in same zoo there is that Kodiak bear Taquka and you have seen how big he is side by side with 250 kg Eurasian brown bear. I try to get more information about Taquka too, about it how tall and shoulder height. It can be, that it doesn´t reach same size as Peter the Great, but could be close. They try to weigh it before hibernation again. I guess, that it isn´t always so easy task :)
I noticed by accident, that there was one article about Sulo Karjalainen in English too in Finnish newspaper website. There is also one video, where is footage about male bears Juuso and Jooseppi, when they were cubs. Sulo is talking about these bears on that video and there are English subtitles. I recommend to watch if interested about bears. In original Finnish article was also another video about fishing trips with bears, but looks like that reporters haven´t used time to put there too subtitles, so it isn´t in this.
Anyway as you can see, these bears haven´t been raised in small cages :) Sadly Jooseppi died at age 3 years old, some illness if I remember right. One thing about research, which they do there too in Kuusamo. Those bears lose 20% of weight during hibernation, that has been checked many times there. So everyone can calculate what is spring weight of Juuso when it goes to hibernation weighing 483 kg, he is really a big bear, when looking at Eurasian subspecies. https://www.aamulehti.fi/a/200225245https://www.aamulehti.fi/a/200225245
And again, Sulo Karjalainen and bears. This is a bit older clip, but again English subtitles. Even though there is translation, it´s a bit pity, that translation loses something when he speaks. He use local dialect and is also certain kind of personality. It´s difficult to imagine situation, where he wouldn´t be calm... If someone don´t know and is looking at right side of his face thinking, that looks odd, those are scarves from a bear. He once had a bear, which was kind of wilder as others.
Sulo was cleaning in enclosure and told to bear Tassu, that he should go further. Tassu went behind Sulo and rose to two feet, when Sulo rose his head, bear suddenly swiped him to head so, that right cheek was ripped open and half scalp ripped loose. Sulo admits, that at that moment he cursed... a lot. Then hit Tassu with shovel to bum and commanded him to go away. He says, that when he got out of cage he had time to get frightened, that how badly he was injured. He managed to get in house and call ambulance. While he was in hospital, where his scalp and right cheek were stitched, officials had made decision and Tassu was euthanized (I´m not sure if right expression). Sulo felt bad about it, but it was done while was in no condition to object. I bet, that if he would have been asked in hospital, he would have been objecting :) That is only time, when he has had major problem with bears during decades. When there is really sunny day, his right eye is watering, that is kind of memory of that incident. It was about millimeters, that he didn´t lose sight from right eye. But here video, a bit older, from 2012.
I was looking a bit, that what kind of news there are about bears and I saw one good article, when talking about nonsense.
https://www.bearmageddonnews.com/2019/02/11/woman-who-used-potato-diet-to-keep-bear-from-eating-her-decapitated-by-bear/#comments If looking that site briefly, it looks like quite ok. But when reading that story.... I wonder what is the motive to write imaginary stories like that and make look like serious.
Taquka and Felix, September 2015. So here Felix is still around 160 kg and Taquka is said in article to be 390 kg. Other source from approximately same time gave weight 376 kg for Taquka, but that little difference can be naturally two weighings or this 390 kg might be just rough figure given for reporter at that moment.
Anyway a nice photo of these bears, when Felix was 2 and Taquka 5 years old. Quote:
I found now one article from Swedish newspaper/media. When you read text, you might notice, that it is said, that third largest bear of park weighs under quarter of ton. Good to remember, that this article is from 2006, so Taquka haven´t been there yet. He arrived 2012 when still a small bear.
I should get later more information. This is still what was published at that time. Translation of article: GREAT move in Orsa bear park Could these be the world's biggest siblings? Peter and his sister Sofia moved into Orsa on Thursday morning. - Peter weighs 1,000 kilos. He is an extremely large bear, says Torbjörn Wallin, CEO of Orsa bear park. On Thursday, the giants Peter and Sofia arrived at the bear park in Orsa - after a two-day truck ride from their former home in Hungary. - There they have lived together since birth. They are park-born, says Torbjörn Wallin about the pretty sweet siblings. The species is called Kamchatka bear and originates in Siberia. And they are big. Peter weighs between 900 kilos and a ton, Sofia is about half as heavy. The park's third largest bear is lighter than a quarter ton. Won't these two startle the rest? - You can't mix them. They will live with each others, but in the long term we would like Peter to raise youngsters with some female. Torbjörn Wallin also announces that the move went well, that they ate, slept and hummed most. - Now Sofia is tramping around and looking around, while Peter mostly eats and sleeps. Again? He just did it for two days? - Yes, it is important to eat if you want to keep the weight. https://www.aftonbladet.se/nyheter/a/5VExwb/stor-inflyttning-i-orsa-bjornpark I hope, that I got it about right with google translator :) Peter and Sofia:  *This image is copyright of its original author
One more photo of Peter the Great at Orsa bear park. From 2011.
 *This image is copyright of its original author
This goes to speculation part, but I thought to put these here and everyone interested can think a bit.
One picture about Kamchatka brown bear range:  *This image is copyright of its original author Then one picture (pretty difficult to find a good picture for Ussuri/Amur brown bear range) where rough ranges of brown bears in Eurasia:  *This image is copyright of its original author  *This image is copyright of its original author I wanted to put these pictures here, because often is mentioned, that there are very big individuals time to time among Ussuri brown bears. Then again usually they seem to be same size as brown bears tend to be when talking about inland brown bears/grizzlies. Males roughly between 200-400 kg, but usually a 300 kg bear can be considered as big and if closer 400 kg, then really big. Still many sources suggest, that there would be even 500-550 kg males sometimes. That kind of weight then again is usually mentioned as something only..... should I say "salmon eating bears" can reach, so there we are talking about Alaskan peninsula, Kodiak islands and Kamchatka peninsula. Then again male bears are known to travel several hundreds of kilometers in short times during summer and rutting time. Even though I have been often thinking, that maybe those giants are related to Kamchatka bears, only recently I looked really closer for ranges of these subspecies and noticed, that they actually seem to meet. Some crossbreeding, some big Kamchatka males roaming more south than usually started suddenly feel more logical than before. Not the easiest thing to find really good information about these bears and Ussuri brown bears especially... but something to think about. After all contradiction between some weighings and then stories and claims by hunters etc. is quite big. This kind of "help" from bigger "cousins" could offer one possible explanation. Naturally there are exceptionally big individuals otherwise too, as captive and famous Juuso bear proves. It is clearly bigger than other captive Eurasian brown bears in Finland. For instance in his prime clearly over 100 kg heavier than other male bears in Kuusamo predator center. Here some numbers to give image. Autumn 2011 Juuso was 483 kg, older male Vyöti was 341 kg. Spring 2012 Juuso was 370 kg and Vyöti was 250 kg. I actually finally found an article, where was clearly said, that Juuso is offspring of Vyöti. But as said, what comes to relationship between Kamchatka bears and observations about really huge Ussuri brown bears time to time, this is speculation and everyone are free to think what they want. If someone finds some information, which doesn´t appear too easily in normal google search, more than welcome to be shared here.
About posting #711 and bear in trap. I forgot to put information what happened there afterwards. First, those traps are used to catch mainly raccoon dogs or other animals approximately same size as foxes etc. Still time to time young bears go in those too. They have broken out in some cases themselves, so situations like in that video are unpredictable and dangerous.
In this particular case, they managed to drive with tractor so close, that they were able to open the hatch and bear got out. There were two men in the scoop of tractor while it was lifted up and they used long steel rods with hooks to open hatch of that trap. It has been quite a sight, I think :) They don´t mention it, but I think, that it´s safe to assume that this bear didn´t thank them before leaving the place. In this article was told about situation on those videos. https://www.savonsanomat.fi/warkaudenlehti/keski-savo/Karhu-eksyi-supiloukkuun-Rantasalmella-%E2%80%93-mets%C3%A4st%C3%A4j%C3%A4t-vapauttivat-%C3%A4rhentelev%C3%A4n-erauspennun-traktorin-avulla/1374037
Night between 4th-5th August, Kuusamo and Finland. For some reason (maybe food inside car) a bear had been very interested about car of tourists from Austria.
In photos it can be seen how it has clawed car and even so, that penetrating partially metal. Here some photos:  *This image is copyright of its original author  *This image is copyright of its original author  *This image is copyright of its original author https://www.iltalehti.fi/kotimaa/a/5b88cc07-6f87-435f-871c-115594b6fb4d
@Lycaon Can you tell, what these people are talking about Kamchatka bear sizes on this video. From 0:50-1:35 is most interesting. I can understand in the beginning that normal overall information about 3 meters tall and over 500 kg. But are they telling anything about their own bears in their zoo? It would be interesting to know what that zoo-keeper is telling there, but he speaks too fast for me, I would need to see subtitles to be able to understand :)
 (08-12-2019, 01:03 PM)Lycaon Wrote: @Shadow It helped, because I heard that 2m 50cm, but I had really no idea what else he was saying, just heard like "bla bla bla 3 meters bla bla over 500 kg bla bla bla bla 2m 50cm bla bla bla bla 3hundredsomething bla bla bla" :) I think, that if you would hear finnish it would be just "bla bla bla bla bla.....". Still this was nice to hear because it is very difficult to find printed information of these bears. Mostly they just always put some overall information, like height on hind legs up to 320 cm and weight 650-800 kg and that´s it. Nothing specific about their current bears. Only some few put some specific information. That zoo has had and has even today Kamchatka bears, would be nice to get more information. For instance these two in Hamburg Zoo or is that Hagenbeck Zoo officially? https://polarbeargermany.com/2018/12/29/zoo-hamburg-braunbaer-fuetterung-30-8-18/ |
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