There is a world somewhere between reality and fiction. Although ignored by many, it is very real and so are those living in it. This forum is about the natural world. Here, wild animals will be heard and respected. The forum offers a glimpse into an unknown world as well as a room with a view on the present and the future. Anyone able to speak on behalf of those living in the emerald forest and the deep blue sea is invited to join.
(12-18-2018, 01:05 AM)Pckts Wrote: Most info below has been posted already I'm sure...
Kodiak bear Kodiak bears (also known as Alaskan brown bears) are a subspecies of brown bear and are only found on the Kodiak Archipelago in Alaska. The biggest brown bears come from Kodiak Island itself. While bears are found on many islands off Alaska and the Alaskan peninsula, 17 of the top 25 Alaskan brown bears were taken from Kodiak. The world record was bagged by Roy Lindsley in 1952. Its score is 30 12/16. It’s the largest-scoring bear of any speices known. The skull is now owned by the Los Angeles County Museum. The largest specimens of brown bears commonly weigh more than half a ton, which is a predator that will make the knees of the most seasoned hunter shake.
Larry Fitzgerald poses with the largest grizzly bear taken by a hunter. It was bagged in 2013 near the Totatlanika River, Alaska.
The second- and third-place bears were also taken on Kodiak. Erling Hansen took one in 1961 that scored 30 11/16 and Fred Henton took one in 1938 that scored 30 9/16. Henton’s bear was the world’s record until Lindsley’s harvest overtook it in 1952. The most recent bear in the top 25 was bagged by Thomas Stago in Uyak Bay, Alaska in 2012.
The polar bear is the largest land carnivore in the world. A lot of bears have a nasty reputation, but polar bears back it up. More people have been killed and eaten by polar bears than by all other bears combined. The opportunity to hunt a huge polar bear has been turned upside down in the past couple decades. That’s not to say that you can’t shoot a huge polar bear because all adult polar bears are huge by bear standards, but the areas that produce the biggest ones are off-limits except to indigenous Alaskans. All of the top 25 white bears and more than 90 percent of all Boone and Crockett record book bears have been shot out of coastal Alaska. Most of them have been shot out of Kotzebue, with the Diomede Islands area a distant second place. Only indigenous natives are allowed to hunt these bears. It stands to reason that subsistence hunters are not looking for bears with big skulls, and if they shot one of record-book size, the odds that it would be entered would be low. All of the top 50 in the record book were taken before 1968. The world record, taken by Shelby Longoria, was taken off the coast of Kotzebue in 1963. It scored 29 15/16. Will there ever be a 30-inch polar bear entered in the record books? Not in the foreseeable future.
"Fitzgerald's kill is a record bear only because it was shot north of the Alaska Range. South of those mountains slicing through Denali National Park and Preserve, his bear would be just another big bear. That's because the record-keeping Boone and Crockett Club arbitrarily splits Alaska brown/grizzly bears into two separate categories -- grizzly bears and brown bears. The world-record Alaska brown bear, taken in Kodiak in 1952, is much larger.''
"The state of Alaska doesn't recognize the distinction between a grizzly bear and an Alaska brown bear, nor do wildlife scientists. Both say the only real difference is diet.
Coastal bears, the Alaska Department of Fish and Game notes, "grow larger and live in higher densities than their 'grizzly' cousins in the northern and interior parts of the state. To minimize confusion,'' state wildlife biologists refer to all of these bears as "brown bears,'' though "grizzly" is arguably a more common popular term. That's because the description "brown'' can also be used to describe color of the state's cinnamon-colored black bears, and when dealing with bears in wild Alaska it is vitally important for people to be able to tell the difference between black bears, no matter their color, and grizzly bears."
"Grizzly bears also come in a much bigger package than black bears. Mature, male, brown-grizzly bears on Kodiak Island and the Alaska Peninsula can reach heights of more than 10 feet when standing on their hind legs. Fitzgerald's bear was not that big.
In fact, it didn't even come close to the size of a bear from Kodiak, the Gulf of Alaska coast, or even the Kenai Peninsula. Fitzgerald's bear scored 276/16 on the Boone and Crockett trophy measure, which determines bear size by the length and width of the animal's skull. The bears are too big to weigh. The largest of them can go more than 1,500 pounds. Bears that big are hard to even roll over to skin. And they have massive heads.
"You need a minimum of a 28-inch skull to even be considered in the (Boone and Crockett) book'' for record Alaska brown bears, said Gino Del Frate, a wildlife biologist with Fish and Game. There are about 500 such bears now in the book and more are added every year.
"About 10 percent of our annual harvest on Kodiak is over 28,'' said Larry Van Daele, regional supervisor for the Division of Wildlife Conservation. About 200 brown-grizzly bars are killed on Kodiak each year, meaning more than 20 bears bigger than Fitzgerald's each year come from that area alone.
A bear shot on the Kenai just last fall measured 29. Area biologist Jeff Selinger reported it appeared to be the largest bear shot on the Kenai since the 1960s. The biggest bear recorded on the Kenai went 294/16.
Big bears have been popping up with regularity in Alaska in the past decade, and there is speculation this might be related to global warming. Global warming has played a role in increasing the size of Alaska salmon runs. More salmon provide more food for bears, and the animals grow bigger. Fitzgerald's bear was big, but were it seen standing next to the world-record brown bear with a skull measuring 3012/16, it would look badly outsized." https://www.adn.com/outdoors/article/giant-grizzly-one-some-record-books-not-alaskas/2014/05/08/?sp=/99/474/
Big Bear characteristics When a bear is sighted, the following are gauges for field judging its size-- Head: Bears are ultimately scored by their skulls, rather than hides; but a really big bear will have a head that looks relatively small, compared to its body. Ears: Big ears, small bear; small ears, bigger bear. Legs: Should look short and squatty, not "leggy." Gait: A big bear will almost waddle; it will also appear relaxed, because it's not afraid of anything or anybody. At left: Jeff Brigham, 2009, 26 12/16, Unalakleet River, Alaska (rank pending--final score subject to revision by additional verification measurements)
Brian Shaub, 44, of Lancaster, is dwarfed by the 1,100-pound Kodiak brown bear he shot October 2013. https://www.wideopenspaces.com/gallery-humongous-really-really-big-kodiak-bears-pics/
More on this bear above "Officials with the Alaska Department of Fish and Game told Shaub his bear was 16 to18 years old and had a live weight of about 1,100 pounds."
“They told me they really don’t get any bigger than that, so they said I can quit,” Shaub said. “I probably won’t hunt brown bears again.”
Entire story attached to this link, I'm not condoning it by any means. https://lancasteronline.com/sports/outdoors/giant-bear-shot-in-alaska-by-lancaster-hunter/article_7503e6b4-a0ac-11e3-a4c2-0017a43b2370.html
From the Alaskan Department of fish and game "A bear’s weight varies with the season. Bears weigh least in the spring or early summer. They gain weight rapidly during late summer and fall and are waddling fat just prior to denning. At this time most mature males weigh between 500 and 900 lbs (180 – 410 kg) with extremely large individuals weighing as much as 1,400 lbs (640 kg). Females weigh half to three-quarters as much. Bear hides are prized by hunters but the meat of a brown bear is generally considered unpalatable and hunters rarely eat it." http://www.adfg.alaska.gov/index.cfm%3Fadfg=brownbearhunting.main
One thing what comes to the end of that posting, where is mentioned "mature males weigh between 500 and 900 lbs (180 – 410 kg)". In Katmai national park biologists determine mature male to age, when it can breed ("Katmai’s biologists classify bears as adults once they are 5-6 years old. The distinction between a subadult and an adult bear is somewhat arbitrary, but like many other organisms adulthood is defined by reaching sexual maturity.").
What comes to statistics about average weights problem is, that current charts are very tricky to compare. Surprising how difficult it is to find information about sample bear ages and weighing times. But hopefully something could be found soon.
One thing which I just have to say, damn those bears in photos!! Even though I´ve seen same photos so many times, always impressive. Look at those front legs for instance :) There is some raw power.
The "King" of the bears - comparison between the Polar bear and the Brown bear
