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Post by theundertaker45 on Dec 30, 2020 19:02:48 GMT -5
Weight of fully grown brown bears in southcentral Alaska (by Miller & Ballard, 1982; estimated weights were excluded)
Males
Average weight of fully grown males (9y+) in spring/summer: ~272kg (~600lbs; n=5) Weight of the heaviest individual: ~300kg (~662lbs; 10.5y old male)
Females
Average weight of fully grown females (7y+) in spring/summer: ~136kg (~299lbs; n=16) Weight of the heaviest individual: ~155kg (~342lbs; 19.5y old female)
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Post by King Kodiak on Dec 30, 2020 19:22:52 GMT -5
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Post by theundertaker45 on Dec 31, 2020 6:18:59 GMT -5
King KodiakYeah, you are right; Ursus arctos alascensis would be the proper term for these two populations.
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Post by brobear on Dec 31, 2020 6:32:54 GMT -5
There are 16 confirmed subspecies of American black bears and only two accepted among North American brown bears. Is this just pure laziness on the part of bear biologists or did they merely throw their hands up since they could never come to any agreements? Or... am I missing something? What makes it so confusing is the fact that there ( to my knowledge ) is no set of rules - no standards - as to exactly what a subspecies is.
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Post by OldGreenGrolar on Jan 14, 2021 8:40:05 GMT -5
World's oldest wild bear dies in Minnesota forest
Bear No. 56, studied for 32 years, outlived any radio-collared bear of any species, a DNR researcher said. DNR PHOTO Bear No. 56 was informally called the”hump-nosed sow” when she was first collared in 1981 because of the bump on her nose. That hump faded. The world's oldest-known wild bear has died of old age in northern Minnesota, quietly coming to her final resting place in a shady spot that a bear would find as a good place for a nap, a leading state researcher said Tuesday. The decomposed corpse of the female American black bear, known to Minnesota Department of Natural Resources researchers as Bear No. 56, was found last Wednesday by state researcher Karen Noyce in the Chippewa National Forest near Marcell. The bear was 39 ½ years old. The bear was captured and given a radio collar in July 1981 by DNR scientists during the first summer of a long-term research project on bear population ecology. She was 7 years old and accompanied by three female cubs. During the next 32 years, she and her many offspring provided an almost uninterrupted record of reproduction, survival, movement and, eventually, aging. The DNR says the information from this bear and her offspring has "contributed significantly to the scientific literature on black bear biology." In the last few years of her life, Bear No. 56 began to visit bait set by hunters, but they abided by a DNR request not to shoot collared bears. "We're very fond of that bear," Noyce said. "But it's not like a pet or anything, when you have a relationship." Noyce said her agency was "hoping she'd make it to 40. … She was having trouble getting around but eating normally. She couldn't see and couldn't hear. "We're glad to see she died a natural death. … It was a good way to go." First to die of old age Noyce said this is the first bear in the DNR's study to die of old age. She estimates that the bear died sometime in July. "She had left her home range … looking for food, apparently," Noyce said. "I was surprised in her state that she would do that. She was just lying in a wooded spot, next to a little bit of a low area, a shady area. It was a kind of place a bear would lay down and take a midday nap." State researchers will collect the remains soon. From 1981 to 1995, Bear No. 56 produced eight litters of cubs and successfully reared 21 of the 22 cubs to 18 months of age. Bear No. 56 outlived all of the 360 other radio-collared black bears that DNR researchers have followed since 1981 — by 19 years. She also outlived any radio-collared bear of any species in the world. Only a few individual study bears have been reported to reach age 30. The second-oldest was a brown bear in Alaska that lived to 34. "We know most of the people in the world who have radio-tracked bears for a long time," Noyce said, explaining how her profession settled on No. 56 as the world's oldest. Good luck and good habits Researchers suspect that Bear No. 56's longevity was a combination of factors, including a home range with few people or major roads, her predisposition to avoid people and general good luck. When last handled in March 2010, Bear No. 56 was at a healthy weight, but her teeth showed excessive wear and her eyes were clouding. Since then, her hearing and eyesight had deteriorated. She had been observed more frequently during the past two summers, foraging along trails and traveling dirt roads, which are easier to navigate than the woods. The average age of a bear killed by a Minnesota hunter is less than 4 years old, and about 80 percent of No. 56's many cubs died by age 6. Of the hundreds of other bears that have been radio-collared and studied by the DNR in 32 years, the longest any survived was 23 years. Some bears in zoos have made it into their 40s, Noyce said. carnivora.net/american-black-bear-ursus-americanus-t2936-s15.html#p153452From Warsaw.
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Post by brobear on Jan 14, 2021 8:53:04 GMT -5
IF I'm reading this right, Bear number #56 lived to the ripe old age of 39.
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Post by OldGreenGrolar on Jan 14, 2021 10:53:00 GMT -5
IF I'm reading this right, Bear number #56 lived to the ripe old age of 39. Black bears like brown bears live long as well. Have you seen many black bears in your life?
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Post by King Kodiak on Jan 21, 2021 7:16:34 GMT -5
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Post by brobear on Jan 21, 2021 7:38:30 GMT -5
I just love those sugar-coated words like 'euthanized'. Similar to the term 'harvest' being used by hunters. But, we have just about always sugar-coated words to make our lives appear to be more pleasant. Not a bad thing; just something I notice.
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Post by tom on Jan 21, 2021 12:36:00 GMT -5
Kodiak Bear (Troyer, 1969)
Average weight of the individuals included in the weight chart with specified age ranges: ~306kg (~674lbs, n=13) Number of 9y+ adults included in this weight chart: 1-4 (precise number is unknown as just the ranges were given) Average age of the individuals included in the weight chart: ~7.3y (taking the median of the age ranges into account) Percentage of 9y+ males being included: 8-31% Age and weight of the largest individual (spring specimens only): ~540kg (~1190lbs, 9y of age) Average weight of individuals definitely described as being 9y+ (spring specimens only as the individuals of the chart were spring weights): ~454kg (~1002lbs, n=2) We know Bears continue to grow for most of their lives and given that Wild Bears do not generally live as long as captive Bears, it is feasible that a 20 years plus male Kodiak Bears likely would tip the scales at well over 1000 lbs and maybe closer to 1500 lbs. Van who is not a Kodiak bear but an Old dominant coastal male has lived a long life and he kind of proves that. I believe he is estimated to be at least 20 which is old for a Wild Brown Bear. Then we have the captive Giants Clyde, Goliath and you could even throw Bart in there too. All three of these Bears were 20+ years old when they died.
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Post by tom on Jan 21, 2021 16:09:17 GMT -5
This pic is from a post of Brobears from 2017. This is obviously a large Bear, what would you guys estimate his weight to be? Pictures don't always do it justice but judging on his height (all fours) and length I'm going to say.... 800-900 lbs am I way off?
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Post by brobear on Jan 21, 2021 16:42:26 GMT -5
800 to 900 pounds; if not more ( IMO ).
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Post by brobear on Feb 14, 2021 10:45:47 GMT -5
www.nathab.com/know-before-you-go/alaska-northern-adventures/alaska/wildlife-guide/brown-bear/ SEXUAL MATURITY & LIFE EXPECTANCY Male brown bears reach sexual maturity at the juvenile age of 7 years, though, in general, the animal is unable to pass on its genetic material to the next generation until several breeding periods later. Its body size far from the adult maximum, such a young boar stands no chance in a confrontation with a fully grown rival. Females mature sexually one or two years earlier, and some sows experience the joys of motherhood at the young age of 5 years. However, these first attempts at raising offspring are rarely blessed with success. *Special note: any brown bear below the age of 5 years is a cub.
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Post by King Kodiak on Feb 14, 2021 11:46:36 GMT -5
Well actually from 3 to 5 is a subadult, cubs leave their mother at around 2.5 to 3. But that's not the main point. The main point is that not even a 5 year old brown bear who is considered an "adult" is fully grown by a long stretch. We know they are fully grown at 9+.
A 3 year old brown bear just became a subadult.
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Post by brobear on Feb 14, 2021 12:07:01 GMT -5
( IMO ) a male bear becomes a subadult at puberty. This varies from bear population to population. Inland grizzly anywhere between 4.5 and 5 years old. Alaskan peninsula brown bear around 7 years old. When a mother bear leaves her cubs ( which is not voluntary on the part of the cubs ), they are still cubs; not yet sexually mature. In Russia, from my reading, a cub stays with his mother for a longer time period ( probably because of tigers ). *9+ or 10 years old. Neither answer is wrong.
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Post by OldGreenGrolar on Feb 16, 2021 19:15:36 GMT -5
Himalayan brown bear cubs stay with mothers for up to five years old. Do the Ussuri brown bear cubs stay with their mothers for the same length? I wonder.
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Post by brobear on Feb 17, 2021 1:23:17 GMT -5
Himalayan brown bear cubs stay with mothers for up to five years old. Do the Ussuri brown bear cubs stay with their mothers for the same length? I wonder. I'm not sure which book I read this in; I've done so much moving over the past 10+ years. But, the Ussuri brown bear keeps her cubs with her for a longer period of time than the American grizzly. To the best of my memory; from 4 to 5 years old. In fact, something you don't see with the American grizzly, the Ussuri she-bear will sometimes have her young cubs along with an older cub from the previous birth. Evidently, she wants them to be prepared for a life more dangerous in Russia than in America.
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Post by OldGreenGrolar on Feb 17, 2021 2:51:14 GMT -5
I guess the Ussuri brown bear cubs take just as long as the Himalayan brown bear cubs to become independent from their mothers.
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Post by Deleted on Feb 17, 2021 5:40:22 GMT -5
Notorious Grizzly Bears by W.P. Hubbard - 1960 - Pelage and Character - Life and Death. I have never seen or found a grizzly bear that had died a natural death. In Idaho's Sawtooth Mountains, early one spring, I came upon a grizzly that had been killed while feeding at the base of a slide. He was crushed between two boulders. Either another avalanche plunged down from the top of the slide, killing him before he could escape, or in digging under one of the boulders he loosened it and it toppled over, crushing him between it and the other boulder. Personally, I believe the grizzly bears pass away in hidden caves or remote spots, or during their winter sleep. Russell Annabel, Alaskan guide, prospector, trapper, and big game hunter, states: "We have found the remains of two old grizzlies that died in their dens, which ended so far as we are concerned the myth that nobody ever saw the body of a grizzly that had died a natural death. May be many remains of the bears found eaten by tiger in russia are those who could survive these reasons that you told. Female and subadults.
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Post by brobear on Feb 17, 2021 6:25:34 GMT -5
Novel: The Grizzly King (1916) by American author James Oliver Curwood. Movie adaptation: The Bear - 1988. This tale is based on real life events. A mother grizzly was digging into a mountainside, causing rocks to fall down, killing her. Thus leaving her one cub as an orphan.
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