Informational

The Brown Bear

by Kyle Rowe

According to National Geographic, the brown bear is the second largest of the bear species, a close second to only the polar bear. The adults on average weigh a whopping 700 pounds! They are omnivorous, meaning they eat both meat and plants. Despite their large size and their huge teeth and claws, they eat nuts, berries, fruits, and leaves. They also eat meat, obviously, ranging from rodents, squirrels, foxes and other small animals to moose! The average bull (male) moose is usually around seven feet tall at the shoulder, making them a foot taller than the average adult man! The brown bear uses it’s two inch razor sharp claws and teeth to kill the moose from behind to stay away from its dangerous 6 ft long antlers. And if the moose sees the bear and runs away the bear can run at a whopping 50 ft a second! Which is 15 miles per hour faster than the moose allowing for a short easy chase. The brown bear can also run roughly around twice as fast as a person.

Don’t think swimming will be safe either. Bears can swim at 35 miles per hour! But you can out-climb them, right? Wrong! They can easily bound up trees to eat you. I’d say the best way to escape a grizzly bear is by nott living in Alaska.

In addition to moose, another one of their favorite snacks is salmon. They wait for the fish to jump out of the water then they catch them in their mouths! They can also catch the salmon with their eerily humanlike hands.

If you are confused about the difference between a black bear and a brown bear, first a brown bear is brown and a black bear is black. Other than that the brown/grizzly bear is around a foot taller than the black bear. The brown bear has a large hump on his back. It’s claws are also around an inch longer. Though these animals are built for combat, they are also adorable!! Just look at those cute little eye- teeth! Aaaah! No! Those are very long claws!