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The "King" of the bears - comparison between the Polar bear and the Brown bear
The "King" of the bears - comparison between the Polar bear and the Brown bear
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The "King" of the bears - comparison between the Polar bear and the Brown bear
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I'm assuming that the Asian bear mentioned in the bite-force chart by tigerluver is a sloth bear, considering the low numbers.
The polar bear is the biggest bear and king within his own icy domain.  (11-13-2014, 11:25 PM)Pckts Wrote: Do we have any idea the purpose of the "fin shape" at the back of the Brown bear skull? The skull of a brown bear is broader than that of a similar-size polar bear. The polar bear has a long narrow skull. This makes sense as the more carnivorous brown bears, such as the inland grizzly and the Ussuri brown bears have narrower more elongated skulls than the more vegetarian Kodiaks and Kamchatka brown bears. The two latter mentioned have shorter muzzles and broader skulls. The same holds true for the two giant cave bears of Ice Age Europe. Vegetarian Ursus spelaeus had a very wide skull while Ursus ingressus, much more carnivorous had a longer more narrow skull.  
Just came upon here, and didn't know that this thread was initially here (but I at least included other bear species).
(10-13-2014, 10:32 AM)GuateGojira Wrote:Richardrli\ dateline='\'1413166373' Wrote: The largest population of polar bears in the Foxe Basin average around 590kg for males, quite a bit bigger than any brown bear population.Great data Richard. Could you put the document or link please? This data surely put an end to the debate, as I think there is no other land carnivore that can reach such an average figure. [img]images/smilies/tongue.gif[/img] I know this reply is over 2 years late but: http://s8.postimg.cc/mto1h73tx/polar_bear_weights.jpg Adult male polar bear population from Foxe Basin weigh nearly 590 kg (1,300 lbs) on average. 
To the above, the paper is:
Postnatal growth in body length and mass of polar bears(Ursus maritimus) at Svalbard If you'd like to read the entire paper, please PM me.
Polar bears live by the same rules as brown bears. Size is governed by available food resources. This is why polar bears in the wild are bigger than those in captivity; especially during the 19th century and early 20th century. http://shaggygod.proboards.com/
 *This image is copyright of its original author  *This image is copyright of its original author  *This image is copyright of its original author
I always wondered about those smaller Polar bears we have seen in the old circus shots, because everything I have read on Polar bears via circus trainers have always mentioned them as being huge beasts who are very unpredictable.
I have no doubt that diet plays a huge role but I also wonder if polar bears like the Tiger, have drastic differences in body mass from location to location. I always picture Polar Bears like these below in the Circuses of old but I am well aware that many also look much smaller like the ones you posted brobear.  *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  *This image is copyright of its original author  *This image is copyright of its original author  *This image is copyright of its original author
 (01-12-2017, 01:53 AM)Pckts Wrote: I always wondered about those smaller Polar bears we have seen in the old circus shots, because everything I have read on Polar bears via circus trainers have always mentioned them as being huge beasts who are very unpredictable. Typical western media propaganda .... Shows one or two exceptional or edited bear pictures as 'common' bears. In reality if we compare them with man/dogs side by side we can easily predict them as just over sized dogs. Noway these timid,fat bears can cross 329 kg average mark as measured by US scientists.  PS: Fore me their avg is around 260 kg.
Answer to posts #69 and #70. During the 19th century and early 20th century; in circus and perhaps in zoos, because the big cats had to have meat, which can be expensive, the bears were fed on less expensive foods, mostly vegetation. Bears were fed less expensive foods because being omnivores, it could be done. The pictures are not faked in any way.
Comparing Skulls of Polar Bear and Kodiak 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  *This image is copyright of its original author  *This image is copyright of its original author  *This image is copyright of its original author Kodiak Bear (darker skull): length of skull 48 cm, wide of skull 31 cm, length of upper canine tooth 5,6 cm, length of lower canine tooth 4,6 cm. Polar Bear: length of skull 45,5 cm, wide of skull 29 cm, length of upper canine tooth 5,5 cm, length of lower canine tooth 4,6 cm.
Size matters...
A grizzly can reach a greater size and weight in captivity than in the wild but a zoo cannot provide a polar bear with anything of greater weight-gain than seals, walrus, and beached whales. No captive polar bears have ever been known to reach the size of Goliath or Clyde. So, what does this mean? It's all about food availability. Polar bears are larger because of their available prey. During the nineteenth century and into the early twentieth century, captive polar bears were often the size of black bears; from 200 to 400 pounds. In the wild a mature male polar bear averages roughly 1,000 pounds while some exceptional individuals reach upwards to 1,700 pounds! Just how big can a Kodiak bear grow to be? I believe that 1500 pounds is probably a normal maximum seldom reached. Bart the Bear and a few other captive Kodiaks have reached this peak. The heaviest recorded wild Kodiak weighed 1656 pounds ( 751 kg ). However, as I would estimate maybe one out of perhaps a thousand male 10+ year old Kodiaks are ever actually weighed, I would not say that this was the biggest ever Kodiak bear living in the wild. As for captive bears, there was a 15 year old Kodiak in the Cheyenne Mountain Zoological Park that was weighed at 1670 pounds ( 757 kg ). Even bigger were Goliath which was reportedly weighed in 1983 at 2000 pounds and Clyde which was reportedly weighed in 1987 at 2136 pounds. shaggygod.proboards.com/board/66/kodiak-brown-bear-coastal *Note: According to zoo director Terry Lincoln, Clyde probably weighed close to 2400 lbs a year earlier He still had a fat layer of 9 inches when he died. |
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