Polar Bear - Kodiak Bear comparison

[brobear]

IF anyone could draw a family tree of the brown bear, it would be incomplete if the polar bear is absent. Genetically, he is still a grizzly. He is the grizzly who rules the arctic realm.

[brobear]

Kodiak bears (Ursus arctos middendorffi) live on Kodiak Island or one of the nearby islands off the coast of southwestern Alaska. These bears can be nearly as large as polar bears (Ursus maritimus) and include the largest brown bears (Ursus arctos) on record. Sixteen of the twenty largest brown bears killed by hunters have come from the Kodiak Archipelago.
A large male can stand over 10 feet tall on his hind legs and 5 feet on all fours. A weight of 1,648 pounds was listed for one male in the Journal of Mammalogy. Females are about 20 percent smaller and 30 percent lighter than males.
Brown bears, which include Kodiak bears, live in Europe, Asia, and North America. The 3 subspecies of brown bear that live in North America are Kodiak bears, coastal brown bears (Ursus arctos gyas), and grizzly bears (Ursus arctos horribilis).
In captivity, Kodiak bears can become even heavier than in the wild. The largest known Kodiak bear lived at the Dakota Zoo in Bismarck, North Dakota. Named Clyde, he weighed 2130 pounds when he died in June 1987 at the age of 22. According to zoo director Terry Lincoln, Clyde probably weighed close to 2400 a year earlier He still had a fat layer of 9 inches when he died.
The longest lived brown bear on record was a female at Henry Doorly Zoo in Omaha, Nebraska. She produced cubs through age 41 and was euthanized at 44.

www.bear.org/website/bear-pages/brown-or-grizzly-bear/208-kodiak-bears-.html

[brobear]

Grizzly bears - the ultimate carnivore:
Almost all queries received on this topic request answers to the lion versus tiger question. Oddly, few people simply ask which is considered the Ultimate Carnivore.
This honour is held by an animal the tiger does not often have encounter; it is the grizzly bear.
The grizzly bear is a poor predator, taking down a caribou only when the opportunity arises. This, however, shifted his evolution in favour of the job in hand, namely as a digger of hard barren ground for roots, tubers and den building. The grizzly bear subsequently evolved enormous bone and muscle density; roughly ten times our own for a given size. They have developed into huge and enormously powerful animals.
Big cat biology is very different. They have evolved powerful elastic muscles over a low weight, low density bone structure to suit their purpose of chasing down prey.
Grizzly bear pit fights:
The Californians of the late 19th century staged well-documented pit fights with grizzlies and spanish bulls. The grizzlies, using their paw as a club, shattered the unfortunate bull's skull or shoulder bones so easily that the betting became poor.
Eventually, and at considerable cost, African lions were brought in to raise the stakes. The most fierce of the adult males was sent in whilst the grizzly was already waiting in the pits. The lion was known for bravely charging straight in and looked good for the money, but the grizzly killed a male lion almost as easily as he'd killed the bull.

The Californians never understood why. We now know that it was enormously strong bone density meeting a low density skull. At a range of 4 feet the blow crashed in before the lion could apply the wind pipe lock, which is lion and tiger learnt behaviour for taking down prey animals.
The ferocity of this animal easily matches that of an unsettled African lion.
The polar bear:
There is obviously no way tigers and polar bears can conflict, however comments regarding the grizzly usually lead to inevitable questions about the power of the polar bear.
The polar bear is a larger, but less robust creature than other bears.
Compared to the grizzly, it has a thinner, longer and more delicate skull, along with narrower forequarters. This streamlining is an adaptation for an aquatic life style.
The grizzly has a shorter, thicker neck, heavily built skull and more powerful shoulder structure. Despite being a good foot shorter, the grizzly has a trump card.
Their claws, having evolved as digging tools, are also unmatched at opening body carcasses. Claws of 6" aren't uncommon (9" record) while the polar bear has small hook-like 2" claws.

Sometimes, when the ice melts, polar bears have been known to be driven off by grizzlies, when they move south into the grizzlies feeding area. A grizzly will defend his barren ground patches jealously as he races to pile on enough fat for the end of summer denning.

 ...............  www.lairweb.org.nz/tiger/conflict13.html 

[tom]

I might be more inclined to think that the Grizzly due to his more naturally aggressive nature may be more intimidating to the Polar Bear when confronting each other. But...I'm speculating.

[brobear]

Thus far, in their meetings, you are proven right. I'm sure that a 1600+ pound boar polar bear could easily defeat a barren ground grizzly boar weighing from 300 to 350 pounds. But, the sheer aggressive behavior of the grizzly intimidates the big polar bears. By the way, the barren ground grizzly, which lives on the Canadian tundra is considered by many experts to be the world's most aggressive bear. The Tibetan blue bear runs a close second.

[Polar]

The more emotionally aggressive, the more dull the brain is when fighting. Many "aggressive" boxers and MMA fighters tend to lose quite a bit because their emotion clouds their judgement. Others like Fedor Emelianenko, Mike Tyson, Ali, and Igor Vovchanchyn use emotion as their source of aggression but don't openly display it with taunts/yells/war cries, only with their fists and bodies. I think the polar bear is more composed and tends to avoid a fight more often than not because it is kind-of a full-time predator; that is its job. If it gets injured, it might not likely hunt again. Grizzlies have much more options on whether to hunt or not.

[brobear]

Considering bear vs bear at size parity: A barren ground grizzly is normally roughly about the size of a sloth bear. Now, we have no way of putting this to the test. No data. But one-on-one 300 grizzly vs 300 pound sloth bear, I would bet the farm on the grizzly. Not a sure-thing I realize. The sloth bear's main weapons are his long claws. He goes for the face. The grizzly is more brawny and is a mauler and a brawler. He might attempt to bite the spine of the sloth bear.
Among the smallest of these Canadian tundra grizzlies we might find a mature boar about the same size as a very large boar sun bear. With the giant panda as the only exception, the sun bear has the strongest jaws pound-for-pound of any bear. At similar size, he also has the longest claws and longest canine teeth. He has loose-fitting skin than gives him more maneuverability in a fight. On the down-side, the sun bear is the lightest built of the seven living bear species. It boils down to a matter of weapons and specialized adaptations against brute strength and wrestling ability. Again ( personally ) my nickel is on the grizzly.
400 pound Yellowstone grizzly vs 400 pound Asiatic black bear. My money is on the grizzly. Note: It's all personal opinion.

[tom]

If you were in Bear country whether the southern Alaskan peninsula or northern Canada/ Alaska. What species of Brown Bear is more likely to attack you even if unprovoked?

[brobear]

Inland grizzlies are far more aggressive than the coastal giants. Casey Anderson made the statement that "grizzly Man" Timothy Treadwell would not have been as successful with inland grizzlies. Barren ground grizzlies of the Canadian tundra will sometimes charge unprovoked. This may actually be a buff charge. Would you like to volunteer to put the "bluff charge" theory to the test? The Tibetan brown bear ( blue bear ) has a similar disposition.

[brobear]

Polar says: The more emotionally aggressive, the more dull the brain is when fighting.

True enough. A professional fighter who knows what he is doing would have an edge over an angry aggressive opponent. In fact, the professional might even purposely anger his opponent. But with the dull mind of the "mad-dog" angry fighter comes the ability to totally ignore pain. Aggression is, against a non-pro, an advantage ( IMO ).

[tom]

Mar 25, 2018 13:56:17 GMT -5 brobear said:

Would you like to volunteer to put the "bluff charge" theory to the test? The Tibetan brown bear ( blue bear ) has a similar disposition.





Only if I could wear a suit of armor. 

[tom]

Mar 25, 2018 13:56:17 GMT -5 brobear said:

Inland grizzlies are far more aggressive than the coastal giants. Casey Anderson made the statement that "grizzly Man" Timothy Treadwell would not have been as successful with inland grizzlies.


He's probably right, although Timothy did meet one coastal Bear who might not agree with you.  

[tom]

Would a Baron ground Grizzly let you approach this close?

[brobear]

Yes, Timothy and his unfortunate girl friend were killed by a bear who from the beginning seemed to dislike people. But, that was after a long season of bear watching. You just can't get so close to the inland variety, as seen in picture above.

[tom]

Summer on the Alaskan Peninsula means the Coastal bears will be feeding on Salmon. They won't be looking at humans as a food source and are generally much more tolerant of not only you but other Bears as well. Their bellies will be full and humans providing they are not infringing on the Bears "Space" space meaning each Bear will have a determined space where he or she may not tolerate intrusion.

If humans do not infringe on that "space" it is quite possible to get rather close to these giants as long as you remain calm and do not act threatening. All bets are off with females with cubs however, some will and some won't i assume. I remember one documentary (the same one with 'Van" and "Alice") where the crew was filming a female with cubs in a meadow and were literally so close to her while she was grazing you could hear her chewing. Bears, like humans have different personalities and some as Tim Treadwell found out will soon tire of you if you push the envelope on their "space".

[brobear]

I'm in Columbia right now. My books are in York. I cannot remember his name, but a Vietnam veteran turned grizzly expert by spending season after season among the bears, stated the facts concerning the personal space of Montana grizzlies. You cannot with any safety get as close to them as with their larger coastal cousins. Of course, there may be exceptions to the rule as bears are extremely individualistic.

[brobear]

Apr 21, 2017 11:29:35 GMT -5 brobear said:

Kodiak grizzly and polar bear - Holocene mega-fauna. 
 
 

Let us face the cold hard facts. When asking the question which bear species should wear the crown as "King of the Bears" we must look at the average full-grown boar of each of the eight living species. I will once again quote Big Bonns, "there is no such animal as an average grizzly". Nevertheless, the is no doubt that the polar bear would have a tremendous weight advantage - hundreds of pounds! We must therefore crown the polar bear as our living "King of Bears". 

[brobear]

polarbearfacts.net/kodiak-bear-vs-polar-bear/

Kodiak Bear vs Polar Bear – Kodiak Bear vs Polar Bear Size
Polar bear (Ursus maritimus) and Kodiak bear (Ursus arctos middendorffi) are two different species not only in their diet, habitat, and distribution but also in their behavior. The only common trait between the two predators is their size. They are almost of the same size. Some scientists believe that polar bears are the largest land mammals living today others say that Kodiak bears supersede white bears in size. Either way both animals have long fascinated biologists for their super strength and ability to take down prey nearly the size of their own.

Kodiak Bear vs Polar Bear Size Comparison

Read more at polarbearfacts.net/kodiak-bear-vs-polar-bear/#d6OkhY7bYfApfk8f.99

Let us first study the size of Kodiak bear and a polar bear.

Kodiak Bear Size
Kodiak bears are the largest subspecies of brown bears. They had the skull size of about 78.1 cm (30.7 in).

Adult Kodiak males weigh as much as 477–534 kg (1,052–1,177 lb) with the average weight of about 272 to 635 kg (600 to 1,400 lb). Mature males attain maximum weight of 680 kg (1,500 lb).


Read more at polarbearfacts.net/kodiak-bear-vs-polar-bear/#d6OkhY7bYfApfk8f.99

Females range from 181 to 318 kg (399 to 701 lb) in weight. Like polar bears Kodiak females are 25% smaller than males.

The average length in mature males is around 244 cm (8 ft 0 in) and the shoulder height is 133 cm (4 ft 4 in). Larger specimen is able to stand 1.5 m (4.9 ft) at the shoulder when it rests on four legs. However when the bear stands on her hind legs the height reaches up to 3 m (9.8 ft).

Polar Bear Size
Adult polar bear males weigh up to 350–700 kg (772–1,543 lb) with the total length measuring around 2.4–3 metres (7 ft 10 in–9 ft 10 in).

Read More: How Tall is a Polar Bear Standing Up?

Mature females average 150 – 250 kg (331–551 lb) in weight. She had a total length of 1.8–2.4 metres (5 ft 11 in–7 ft 10 in). They can attain the maximum weight of 500 kg (1,102 lb) during pregnancy.

Males stand 122 to 160 cm (4 ft 0 in to 5 ft 3 in) at the shoulder height.


Read more at polarbearfacts.net/kodiak-bear-vs-polar-bear/#d6OkhY7bYfApfk8f.99

Largest Kodiak Bear ever Recorded
The largest wild Kodiak bear ever recorded weighs up to 751 kg (1,656 lb). This is the size of an adult male. It had the hind foot measured around 46 cm (18 in).

The largest captive Kodiak bear ever recorded in Dakota Zoo in Bismarck, North Dakota. The bear weighed as much as 966 kg (2,130 lb) and it had a nickname The bear died in 1987.

Largest Polar Bear ever Recorded
The largest polar bear ever recorded at 1,002 kg (2,209 lb). The bear was shot in Kotzebue Sound in northwestern Alaska in 1960. It could reach the height of 3.39 m (11 ft 1 in) while standing on hind legs.
Kodiak vs Polar Bear Color


Read more at polarbearfacts.net/kodiak-bear-vs-polar-bear/#d6OkhY7bYfApfk8f.99

Kodiak bear are typically known for their blonde to orange hair color. The cubs have white ring around their neck which is quite visible in their initial years after birth. Polar bears have white hollow hair but the color of the coat turns yellowish during summer. Unlike Kodiak species white bears have black skin.

Kodiak vs Polar Bear Habitat & Distribution
The Kodiak brown bear occurs on the Kodiak Archipelago islands including Raspberry, Kodiak, Shuyak, Uganik, and Afognak islands. Polar bears inhabit the Arctic Circle as well as neighboring islands including Newfoundland but they are virtually dissimilar from Kodiak bears in their habitat and distribution.

Kodiak vs Polar Bear Population
The estimated population of Kodiak brown bears is just over 3,500 but the Endangered Species Act not yet listed it as endangered species. Polar bears on the other hand are far greater in numbers than the Kodiak species. There are more than 20,000 white bears living today.

Kodiak vs Polar Bear Reproductive Behavior
Both Kodiak bear and polar bear seem to show different behavioral traits in reproduction. The Kodiak bear female (sows) will reach the sexual maturity at 8 – 10 years age whereas the polar bear female begins to breed in 4 – 5 years.

The mating and courtship season is nearly the same in both species. Kodiak bear mates in April to May while white bears in May to June.

The average lifespan of both species is 20 years in the wild. The oldest Kodiak male bear died at 34 years age and the oldest polar bear died at 32 years age.

Read more at polarbearfacts.net/kodiak-bear-vs-polar-bear/#d6OkhY7bYfApfk8f.99

Polar bears are polygynous in that the male is likely to mate with multiple females at a time. However each female polar bear will only mate with one male. The couple remains connected for a week. On the other hand Kodiak bears are seriously monogamous species. The male remains faithful to her female partner all her life which is probably one of the reasons as to why they have fewer numbers.

Polar bear cubs and Kodiak bear cubs are born blind and helpless in dens. They are born in January or February. Both seem to give birth to 2 – 3 cubs. Polar cubs stay with their mother for 2 years whereas Kodiak cubs for 3 years.

Read More: Polar Bear vs Grizzly Bear

Kodiak vs Polar Bear Lifespan
The average lifespan of both species is 20 years in the wild. The oldest Kodiak male bear died at 34 years age and the oldest polar bear died at 32 years age. The mortality rate is extremely high in the first two years of their birth.


Read more at polarbearfacts.net/kodiak-bear-vs-polar-bear/#d6OkhY7bYfApfk8f.99

Kodiak vs Polar Bear Behavior
While polar bears make dens on the sea ice Kodiak bears typically dens in the hill sides or mountains. Polar bears have one of the largest ranges of about 465,000 sq. kilometers. Kodiak brown bears have one of the smallest ranges of about 50 sq. mi (130 km2).
Like polar bears Kodiak bears also do not defend territories.
Kodiak bears are primarily diurnal like most other bears but they have become nocturnal due to the competition of food during the day. Polar bears become naturally active during the day.
Both are solitary in nature and they only meet during the mating season.
Polar bears are outstanding swimmers but Kodiak bears are not.
Kodiak and polar bears will avoid humans if possible. However a hungry polar bear will look at humans as a potential food source especially in summer when the food is scarce.
Kodiak vs Polar Bear Feeding Habits
Unlike polar bears Kodiak bears feed exclusively on salmon fish and also supplements her diet with a variety of vegetation. White bears are pure carnivores—in fact the most carnivorous of all bear species. While Kodiak bears rely on salmon fish polar bears rely on seals for their consumption.

Kodiak vs Polar Bear Conservation Status

Read more at polarbearfacts.net/kodiak-bear-vs-polar-bear/#d6OkhY7bYfApfk8f.99

Although fewer than 4,000 Kodiak bears are remaining in the wild yet they are not listed as endangered species. Polar bears are threatened in some of its isolated population but certainly not endangered.
Read more at polarbearfacts.net/kodiak-bear-vs-polar-bear/#d6OkhY7bYfApfk8f.99

[King Kodiak]

The king of the bears is clearly the KODIAK bear. Adult males can be 10 feet tall, up to 1500 lbs. it will beat any other bear specie or subspecie in a fight.

[tom]

How bout this big fella. 2200 lbs.