Brown bear

Ursus arctos

The giant that eats mostly plants

Numbers

Weight: 880 lbrange 220-1,500 lb; in the Alps males reach at most 770-880 lb
Length: 93 inhead-body from 67 to 118 in, tail excluded
Height: 49 inat the shoulder, on all fours; range 35-63 in
Lifespan: 25 yearsfrom 20 to 25 years in the wild
Fat accumulated: 400 lbreserve set aside before winter
Moths eaten in one day: 40000 insectsYellowstone bears, in summer
Maximum weight recorded: 1656 lbwild Kodiak bear

despite its reputation as a big predator, up to ninety percent of its diet consists of plant matter.
Yellowstone bears devour more than forty thousand moths a day in summer, which is one third of all their food.
before winter torpor it stores over four hundred pounds of fat, the reserve that keeps it alive for months.
the heaviest wild Kodiak bear ever recorded weighed sixteen hundred and fifty-six pounds, making it an extraordinary giant.
a male Kodiak bear standing on its hind legs can reach eleven feet tall, which is higher than most ceilings.
the white tips of its fur give it a grizzled appearance, which is how the grizzly bear got its name.
in the eastern Alps it sometimes eats only the partially digested grass found inside the stomachs of herbivores it kills.
in 2006 DNA analysis confirmed the wild existence of a hybrid between a brown bear and a polar bear.
only fifty-five to eighty-five Marsican brown bears, which live exclusively in the central Apennines, remain in the wild.
in Italy killing a bear has been banned since 1940, a protective law that likely saved the species from extinction.

Five questions about this animal. Pick an answer and find out if it is the right one.

Question 1 of 5

What makes up most of the brown bear's diet?

Question 2 of 5

What does the brown bear do during winter?

Question 3 of 5

Why does an adult brown bear not climb trees?

Question 4 of 5

Roughly how many brown bears live in the world today?

Question 5 of 5

How did the brown bear return to the Italian Alps?

Experiment 1

Step on a scale and calculate how many of you it takes to reach four hundred pounds. That is how much fat a bear gains before winter.

Experiment 2

Use a tape measure to mark eleven feet on a wall. That is the standing height of a Kodiak bear, which is usually higher than the ceiling.

Experiment 3

Cut a piece of string five inches long. That is the tiny tail of an animal that can stretch up to ten feet from head to rump.