Content
- origin of the brown bear
- grizzly bear characteristics
- grizzly bear habitat
- grizzly bear feeding
- grizzly bear reproduction
- grizzly bear hibernation
O Brown bear (Ursus arctos) It's an animal usually lonely, they are only seen in groups when they are puppies with their mother, who usually stay with her for a few months or even years. They also form aggregations near areas of abundant food or during mating season. Despite their name, not all brown bears are this color. Some individuals are so dark they appear black, others have a light golden hue, and others may have a grayish coat.
In this form of Animal Expert, we will talk about this species of bears that have 18 subspecies (some extinct). We'll talk about its physical characteristics, habitat, food and many other curiosities.
Source
- America
- Asia
- Europe
origin of the brown bear
The brown bear is native to Eurasia and North America, having also existed in Africa, but this subspecies is already extinct. Its ancestor, the cave bear, was deified by ancient humans, being a divinity to ancient cultures.
The presence of bears in Asia and North America is very homogeneous and populations are little fragmented, unlike populations in Western Europe, where most have disappeared, being relegated to isolated mountainous areas. In Spain, we can find grizzly bears in the Cantabrian and Pyrenees Mountains.
grizzly bear characteristics
The brown bear has many characteristics of carnivore, like its long, pointed fangs to tear through flesh and a short digestive tract. Your molars, on the other hand, are flat, primed for crushing vegetables. Males can reach a weight of 115 kg and females 90 kg.
Are plantigrade, that is, they completely support the soles of the feet when walking. They can also stand on their hind legs to see better, reach for food or mark trees. Can climb and swim. They are long-lived animals, live between 25 and 30 years in freedom and a few more years when they live in captivity.
grizzly bear habitat
The brown bears' favorite places are the forests, where you can find a wide variety of foods, leaves, fruits and other animals. The bear varies its use of the forest according to the season. During the day, he digs the ground to make shallow beds for himself and during the fall he looks for more rocky areas. During the winter, it uses natural caves or excavates them to hibernate and are called bear dens.
Depending on the area they live in, they have larger or smaller territories. These territories are wider in boreal areas, both in America and Europe. Bears live in more temperate areas as the forests are denser, have a greater food source and need less territory.
grizzly bear feeding
Despite having carnivorous characteristics, the brown bear has an omnivorous diet, heavily influenced by the time of year, where vegetables predominate. During the spring your diet is based on herbaceous and occasionally corpses of other animals. In summer, when the fruits ripen, they feed on them, sometimes, although very rare, they can attack the domestic cattle and continue eating carrion, they also seek the precious honey and ants.
Before hibernation, during the fall, to increase their fat intake, they feed on acorns of different trees such as beech and oak. It is the most critical moment, as food becomes scarce and the success of winter survival depends on it. bears need to eat between 10 and 16 kg of food per day. To get deeper, we suggest reading the article that explains what bears eat.
grizzly bear reproduction
the heat of the bears starts in spring, they have two cycles that can last between one and ten days. The cubs are born inside the cave where their mother spends the period of hibernation during the month of January, and spend about a year and a half with her, so the females can have cubs every two years. They are usually born between between 1 and 3 puppies.
During heat, both males and females copulate with several different individuals to prevent infanticide of males, who are not sure whether or not they are their offspring.
THE ovulation is inducedTherefore, it only occurs if there is copulation, which increases the chances of pregnancy. The egg does not implant immediately, but remains floating in the uterus until autumn, when it sets in and truly begins the pregnancy, which lasts two months.
grizzly bear hibernation
In autumn, the bears go through a period of hyperalimentation, where they consume more calories than necessary for daily survival. It helps them to accumulate fat and being able to overcome hibernation, when the bear stops eating, drinking, urinating and defecating. In addition, pregnant females will need energy to give birth and feed their young until spring, when they will leave the bear's den.
In this period, the heart rate decreases from 40 beats per minute to just 10, the respiratory rate drops by half and the temperature drops by about 4°C.