Brown Bears (Info, Pics and Videos)

[GrizzlyClaws]

Here is the genetic affiliation between the Cave bear and the Brown bear. Their latest common ancestor was the Etruscan bear; a native species from Europe.

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[brotherbear]

Yellowstone Bears in the Wild

My class and I had been watching brown bears along the coast of Katmai National Park in Alaska. Early on our second day I took my class upstream where a stream emptied out of a narrow gorge. I nestled the class on a gravel bar in plain view so any approaching bear would see us. The 15-foot-wide river separated us from a grassy meadow backed by a high cliff.
Fifteen minutes after we arrived a large female with three COY approached on the far side of the river. Her gaze told me she approved of our low demeanor and respectful silence. She closed the distance between us to less than 100 feet. I knew that moving would spook her, so we remained still. Since she seemed to approve of our presence, we photographed and videoed respectfully all the while thankful for her sharing time with us.
The bears fished. They grazed grass. For a while it was idyllic. Then a cubs head went up. Then three cubs heads looked upstream. Mom looked upstream. We knew something was happening but didn't know what. Mom shooed the cubs into a small ravine where they started climbing.
At that moment a large male bear came into view upstream. I emphasize the word "large." My class thought the female was big, and she was by Yellowstone grizzly standards. But the male was almost one and a half times as big as the female.
Seconds are much too long to measure the female's transformation from docile mother to roaring dervish. Frothing at the mouth and with her fur flared up, the female reared on her hind legs and charged the male. The male stood on his hind legs and the female went for his throat. Dodging and batting, he fended her off while backing away. It was as if he were trying to say, Lady, all I wanted to do was fish." Finally they both dropped to all fours. Using the tip of her nose, she swung it sideways against his head three times, clearly motioning for him to leave. He backed off and she turned towards her cubs.
The male started into the river towards us. Thinking he might be in a very bad mood, I warned my class to grab their packs. However, once in the river the male turned downstream, passed us, and caught a fish. He was also tolerant of our presence. Reply

[brotherbear]

Yellowstone Bears in the Wild

Curiosity trumps fear. One evening along the road to the east gate we watched a male grizzly grazing nearby. It had been grazing for an hour when a speeding car skidded to a stop and the driver started honking the horn. With an explosive start, the bear bolted into the woods. We lingered, grousing ( nice word ) about our vehicular visitor as darkness arrived. We were about to leave when a bear nose appeared behind a nearby spruce. Cautiously, the same bear that had run away inched directly to the skid marks left by the car. It sniffed them and then, curiosity satisfied, returned to grazing. Reply

[brotherbear]

The Bears of Katmai by Matthias Breiter.

Male brown bears reach sexual maturity at the juvenile age of seven ( 7 ) years. In general, though the animal is unable to pass on its genetic material to the next generation until several breeding periods later. Its body size far from the adult maximum, such a young bear stands no chance in a confrontation with a fully grown rival. Females mature sexually one or two years earlier, and some sows experience motherhood at the young age of five years. However, these first attempts at raising offspring are rarely blessed with success. Reply

[brotherbear]

Man Meets Grizzly by Young and Beyers.

The age to which a grizzly lives is not definitely known, but informed estimates vary between twenty-five and forty years. Old Mose, the Colorado cattle killer, is said to have been at least forty-five years old. The Pine Valley marauder, Old Clubfoot, was known to have been engaged in his pastime for thirty-five years and may even have been full-grown before he began killing. Old Ephraim roamed nearly thirty years in the mountains above Bear Lake. These animals all had the characteristic tracks, so there is some basis for their alleged longevity. Grizzly accounts often stress the age of the bear, perhaps giving it an exaggerated importance. Still, it is a little strange that I know of no tales concerning Young Mose, Young Three Toes, or Young Ephraim. This emphasis suggests something about the relationship between bear and man. It may be that the grizzly's hoary appearance invests him in early life with the semblance of age. More likely, it results from man's assumption that the longer the years of wilderness living, the more the bear is endowed with wisdom and cunning; longevity thus makes him a worthier adversary, a fitter foe for man, and man's triumph is therefore sweeter. This is true, I believe, for both the Indian and the white man. Reply

[brotherbear]

Guinness World Records 2015 - Oldest brown bear in captivity - On May 24, 2013, a 50-year old European brown bear ( Ursus arctos ) named Andreas died in a sanctuary built by the World Society for the Protection of Animals ( WSPA ) in northern Greece. The average lifespan in the wild is 25 years. Reply

[brotherbear]

The Bears of Katmai by Matthias Breiter - 1999.

Male brown bears reach sexual maturity at the juvenile age of seven years. In general, though, the animal is unable to pass on its genetic material to the next generation until several breeding periods later. Its body size far from the adult maximum, such a young boar stands no chance in a confrontation with a fully grown rival. Reply

[brotherbear]

Fortress of the Grizzlies by Dan Wakeman and Wendy Shymanski - Bears of the Khutzeymateen:

Fifteen years ago, Buffalo and Lefty were the two dominant grizzlies in the Khutzeymateen Valley.

Buffalo looked like a large bison with his boxy stature, dark brown colouring, and hearty weight of 900 to 1,000 pounds. Solitary in nature and rarely seen, he was a confident, handsome bear with a slow and powerful walk, and he surely has a lot of offspring to his credit. He and Lucy mated regularly for about six years.

Lefty looked more like a gorilla. Although about the same weight as Buffalo, he was not quite as good-looking. We called him Lefty because Buffalo bit his ear off in battle. Lefty had many major battle scars, including a partially deformed face and a three-foot-long scar on his side, which reflected the horrific battles that can take place over females and territory.

No one has seen Buffalo for a few years now, and he would probably be over 30 if he is still alive. Lefty, who was seen mating with Lucy after Buffalo disappeared from the scene, is well into his late twenties. Reply

[brotherbear]

Fortress of the Grizzlies by Dan Wakeman and Wendy Shymanski - Bears of the Khutzeymateen ... continued ...

There are now new powerful male grizzlies exhibiting dominant bear characteristics, particularly Scarface. At fifteen to eighteen years of age and 800 pounds, he is a brute force to be reckoned with.

We meet Scarface one afternoon as we peacefully watch Lucy from the deck of 'Sun Chaser'. Suddenly we hear the crack of breaking trees and the huffing of a steam engine from the forest. As the crashing nears, Lucy pauses in her grazing, looks briefly toward the noise, then bolts as 800 pounds of muscle and anger emerge from the forest and charge. We clutch our binoculars more tightly while the huge male grizzly froths at the mouth, his hackles standing straight up on his hump. As his head swings ferociously from side to side, he lets loose a deep moan from his scarred mouth.

This is the image of a bear that horror stories revolve around, and we are rudely jolted to reality - not all the bears in the Khutzeymateen are passive and amiable. This bear would not give a human a second chance, especially under the circumstances. His hormones are urging him to pass on his genes, but Lucy is not interested. Now we have unknowingly disturbed his love nest and his frustration has exploded. The usual agitation indicators - standing on his feet or huffing - are discarded. Instead, he makes a direct charge to show he means business.

As Lucy runs terrified into the forest, Scarface follows in hot pursuit. At the forest edge he shoots one last furious glare at us before his black-brown body is swallowed by the trees.

This is the first of our handful of encounters with Scarface. Most male bears of his size stay well back, hidden in the forest, except during mating season. Every time we see him, we receive the same greeting. Perhaps there are other sides to his personality, but we will never know for sure because Scarface is such an elusive creature. Reply

[brotherbear]

... continued ... One bear stands out from the rest of the grizzlies in the valley because of his unique character and appearance. In his younger years he looked comical - or maybe quirky. A large dark head with happy eyes and a long snout was attached to a blondish beige body. From this immature lean body extended the longest, fuzziest, dark brown front legs we had ever seen on a bear. His hind end and legs were skinny and gangly. He looked as if Mother Nature had placed all her leftover parts together to produce him. We would see him striding down the shoreline with his ears slightly back, always with the corners of his mouth upturned as if he were smiling and up to mischief. For this reason we called him Yogi.

He was the instigator of fun with other bears. We often saw him in a group of newly weaned juveniles, provoking play fights and chases. ( After their mother abandons them, young bears often team together to survive. ) Yogi led his "gang of four"- another male and two females - for miles to check out new territory. They would walk up one side of the inlet from the estuary, swim across, and then walk down the other side, eating grass and exploring everything as they went. Yogi was the ringleader and teacher for the others, never showing aggression, just light-hearted play that would benefit him and the others later in their lives.

Whenever a larger bear entered their territory, they would simply run as fast as they could. If an adult male grizzly catches a young bear, he will kill it, but young bears that are on the ground can usually escape.

Bears are solitary by nature, however, and the Gang of Four drifted apart in their four-year-old season. If they meet again, it will be to mate or fight.

By his third summer, Yogi's body had matuered and he was showing signs of becoming one of the dominant males in the valley, weighing approximately 650 pounds and standing roughly four feet to the top of his shoulder muscle hump. An aura of confidence radiated from him as he proudly strode down the shoreline. Reply

[brotherbear]

The Khutzeymateen Grizzly Bear Sanctuary continued...

Another day we see him playing with a lone wolf. The wolf skulks up to Yogi, low to the ground, then stops and stares at him. Yogi stares back, takes a step toward the wolf, and gives a single low huff. The wolf bolts, only to turn and repeat the game. There is no aggression or fright on either animal's part. Instead, two of the most feared creatures in North America appear to be enjoying each other's company, and they continue to play for fifteen minutes. ( Bears and wolves do seem to live companionably in the Khutzeymateen Valley without feeling the need to defend their territory from the other species. ) Reply

[brotherbear]

Yogi Bear continued...

Since then, Yogi has steadily grown and physically changed into a mature, prominent bear. His legs remain long, and he has filled out to an impressive weight of approximately 900 pounds, with a two-foot-wide head and a height of about five feet to the top of his hump. He has lovely chestnut brown fur from head to toe. Although Yogi has grown into a massive bear, he remains the amiable, curious, polite bear we first met, with a mischievous twinkle in his placid eyes and a sneaky instigator grin on his beautiful soft face. Reply

[brotherbear]

Yellowstone Bears in the Wild by James C. Halfpenny.

Brown Bear vs Grizzly Bear: What's In a Name?
What was that "white bear" shot by Peter Crusat of the Lewis and Clark Expedition? Was it a grizzly bear or a brown bear? Is there a difference?
Long before North American explorers encountered the grizzly bear, a similar bear in Europe and Asia was called a "brown bear." Its scientific name was Ursus arctos and, technically, all North American grizzlies are "brown bears" belonging to the species Ursus arctos.
But the bear encountered by Lewis and Clark became known as the "grizzly" in reference to its silver-tipped or "grizzled" hairs. In 1815 George Ord even provided a scientific name for the grizzly, Ursus horribilis, thus setting the stage for a controversy which often rages today.
The name controversy was further complicated by an explosion of scientific names for North American brown/grizzly bears. As the continent was explored, early biologists were certain that slightly different colors, and shapes meant a different species, and they often proclaimed a new species name. By 1917 the great naturalist C. Hart Merriam reported 86 or 87 species and subspecies of grizzly bears and brown bears in North America.
Indeed, hunters and biologists did recognize that different forms of the bears were found on the islands and coastlines of Alaska than were found in the interior of the continent. In some places ( mostly on Alaska's islands and coastal areas ) the bears were commonly called brown bears, and in other places ( mostly in Alaska's interior and in the Lower 48 and Canada ) the bears were called grizzlies. While the name implied different species, the bears themselves did not see a difference. They could and did interbreed - often, regularly, and successfully - thereby eliminating a popular if imperfect criterion for separating species.
In 1963 Bjorn Kurten, paleontologist and mammologist of Pleistocene and Recent mammals, examined more bear skulls than anyone ever before, and based on identifiable breaks in a series of skull measurements, he concluded there were only three subspecies of Ursus arctos: the interior grizzly, U. arctos horribilis ( the horrible bear ); the coastal brown bears, U. arctos dalli; and the Kodiak bears, U. arctos middendorffi. This classification is useful for communicating about recognizably different "subspecies," but new DNA evidence shows hybridization between these subspecies and a blurring of linesin some areas. Future taxonomic research may result in new subspecies names.
It is correct to say that Crusat's bear was a grizzly, and it is correct to call all Ursus arctos bears in the interior of North America, grizzly bears. Just remember that grizzlies are a subset of the brown bears of the world and, as such, are also brown bears. Reply

[brotherbear]

The Bears of Katmai by Matthias Breiter.

Rambo - Rising up to his full, imposing height of over nine feet, Rambo rubs his back on the remains of a small tree, displaying his dominance. Numerous scars on his neck attest to the fact that such confrontations frequently have left their mark.

No bear ever remains river sovereign uncontested; evidently the newcomer has sneaked up on Rambo, intending to seize the moment and take advantage of a surprise attack to move up in the hierarchy. However, the attacker has been a bit too optimistic in evaluating the situation. He quickly loses his edge as Rambo explodes from the water as if ejected, crashing full speed into the flank of the other bear and bowling him over. Now on top of the assailant, the advantage is all Rambo's; from the looks of it, serious if not fatal injury appears inevitable. With mouth agape and paws flying, Rambo bears down on his challenger. Yet just short of tearing into his opponent, he stops. For a few seconds, time seems to stand still. The two boars remain locked in combat. Then they part, and as if in slow motion, the defeated bear moves off in a stiff-legged gait, carrying a deep gash on his foreleg. Nor has the victor escaped uninjured. A gaping cut three inches long adorns Rambo's forehead. Numerous scars on his neck attest to the fact that such confrontations frequently leave their mark. However, Rambo is oblivious to such minor "scratches." He watches his rival walk off, then moves over to a stand of alders. With powerful blows from his front legs, he prunes a few of the little trees. Branches lie between his paws. Then he rises up on his hind legs and rubs his back against the trees, urinating at the same time.

After mutilating two more trees, Rambo, too, walks off. Once again all is quiet at Brooks Falls. Reply

[brotherbear]

The Bears of Katmai by Matthias Breiter.

I recognize Ester and her young. In the world of bears, where bigger is definitely better, she is positioned quite high up in the hierarchy. Weighing about nine hundred pounds, Ester is one of the largest females. Although in size she is still no match for the huge males, even they usually give her a wide berth when she has cubs.

When Ester turns around to check on her young, the strange bear has moved between her and her offspring. In such situations, ignorance is not accepted as an excuse. Although unknowingly and without intent, the animal has broken one of the fundamental laws of bear society: never step between a mother bear and her young! Without hesitating, Ester charges, plowing through the water toward her unwitting opponent. He appears confused about what has caused such a radical response and tries to take refuge in flight, speeding off upstream for a few yards. But then he stops and turns around. It's better to take the charge head-on than be mowed down from behind. Also, one's backside is endowed with virtually no communicative abilities. Ester, like a hellcat trapped in the body of a bear, storms closer, throwing herself into the fray without slowing down. To absorb the impact, her adversary rises up slightly. Ester's front paws swing against the shoulder of the other bear. Then both face each other, their mouths agape. The roar of the assaulted bear can be heard a mile away where the racket wakens park visitors from their dreams. For several tense seconds both animals freeze. Then Ester and her opponent slowly, ungracefully, retreat backward Twenty yards away, the cubs stand next to each other in the grass, observing the conflict like disturbed visitors in an open-air theater. Reply