Brown and Grizzly Bears

Diet and Food Sources

Brown bears eat berries, flowers, grasses, herbs, roots, and nuts. They also eat small animals, fish, small marine animals, ants, other insects, and honey.

Brown bears eat 80 to 90 pounds of food a day during the summer!

Behaviors

Brown bears are active in the warmer seasons of the year: late spring, summer, and early fall. During this time, brown bears gather food, mate, and care for their young.

During late summer and early fall, they need to gain as much weight as possible, so they can survive during hibernation. They hibernate (sleep) during late fall, winter, and early spring.

Location (where in the world brown bears are found)

Brown bears are found throughout most of North America, Europe, and Asia.

Home (habitat where you find the bear)

They live in mountain forests, open meadows, and large river valleys. These habitats are where they can find food, shelter, and protect their young.

Physical Description (what they look like)

Adult brown bears stand about 3 1/2 feet tall. They are 6 1/2 to 7 feet long. Brown bears can weigh 330 to 825 pounds, the same as 10 to 15 people. Males may weigh more than twice as much as females.

Brown bears have a large body with strong muscular legs. They have a big head, short tail, small rounded ears, and 4 feet. Claws on the front paws are large, strong and curved. Their claws are used to dig for food. Brown bears are covered with a heavy shaggy fur.

Bear cubs are blind at birth, have no teeth or hair, and very tiny. They are the size of a chipmunk!

Population (the number of bears that are alive)

There are about 125,000 brown bears in the world. Almost all the brown bears are gone. There are less than 1000 bears left in the lower 48 states of the United States.

Fun Facts

• They can run at speeds of 35 miles per hour.
• Both brown and grizzly bears are the same bear. The name "grizzly" comes from the silver tipped grizzled hairs that these brown bears develop as they get older.
• Brown bears don't climb trees.
• Bears hibernate in the winter. The bear will enter a rock cave; dig out a den; hole up in a dense brush pile, hollow log or tree cavity. They then sleep all winter long.
• The brown bear is the most common bear of the eight types of bears.