Brown bear (Ursus arctos)

Brown bears are second only in size to polar bears. They are among the largest living land carnivores - although their diet is really omnivorous. A subspecies called the Kodiak bear is particularly impressive, and can reach similar sizes to its polar cousin.

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  • Ancient bones those of brown bear

    An almost complete skeleton recovered after years of work from a cave in the Scottish Highlands has been confirmed as that of a male brown bear.

About the Brown bear

The brown bear (Ursus arctos) is a large bear distributed across much of northern Eurasia and North America. It weighs 100 to 680 kilograms (220 to 1,500 lb) and its largest subspecies, the Kodiak Bear, rivals the polar bear as the largest member of the bear family, and as the largest land based predator.

While the brown bear's range has shrunk, and it has faced local extinctions, it remains listed as a least concern species by the IUCN, with a total population of approximately 200,000. Its principal range countries are Russia, the United States (especially Alaska), Canada, the Carpathian region (especially Romania), and Finland where it is the national animal.

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Scientific Classification

Kingdom: Animal (animalia)

Class: Mammal (Mammalia)

Order: Carnivora

Family: Bear (Ursidae)

Genus: Ursus (genus) (Ursus)

Species: Brown Bear (arctos)

Other Ursus

Common Names

Brown bear

Conservation Status

The Brown bear is Vulnerable (IUCN 3.1)

  1. EX - Extinct
  2. EW
  3. CR - Threatened
  4. EN - Threatened
  5. VU - Threatened
  6. NT
  7. LC - Least concern

Population trend: Stable

Year assessed: 2008

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