Second only to polar bears, brown bears are the largest land carnivores. A subspecies called the Kodiak bear is particularly impressive, and can reach similar sizes to its polar cousin.

Subspecies
Ten subspecies.

Life span
20-30 years.

Statistics
Body length: 180-210cm, Weight: males: 135-390kg, females: 95-205kg.

Physical description
They typically have brown fur, but this can vary from cream to almost black. Grizzly bears (U.a.horribilis) have long white-tipped hairs along the shoulders and back, which give the bear a grizzled appearance. They have a hump on their shoulders, a concave face and long, curved claws.

Distribution
Brown bears have the most widespread distribution of all the bears. They inhabit North America, east and west Europe and northern Asia.

Habitat
Brown bears prefer dense forest areas, alpine tundra regions and river valleys.

Diet
They feed on a variety of foods depending on the time of year including grasses, sedges, bulbs, roots, berries, fungi, insects, rodents, moose, reindeer, bison, muskox, sheep and carrion. Alaskan brown bears feed heavily on migrating salmon. They tend to cache food and return to it later.

Behaviour
They are solitary, except for mothers with cubs, but do not appear to be territorial. Large aggregations sometimes form at feeding areas and these situations can lead to aggression between individuals, although large adult males tend to assume dominance.

Reproduction
Brown bears mate from June to July and give birth to 1-4 cubs in January to February. The cubs stay with their mother for 2.5 years.

Conservation status
The IUCN do not list brown bears, but CITES rank them on Appendix I. Threats include hunting and habitat encroachment, such as logging and road construction.