THE BROWN BEAR
(Ursus arctus)
WITH the exception of the hyænas and the civets, all the more important families of land Carnivora are represented in northern Europe; the wild cat and the lynx doing duty for theFelidæ, the wolf and the fox for theCanidæ, the pine-marten, glutton, and otter, together with several smaller species, for theMustelidæ, and the bear, or brown bear, as it is commonly called, in order to distinguish it from its relatives—white, grey, or black—for theUrsidæ. It is further noteworthy that, with the exception of the wild cat, all these animals are either common to the northern portions of the two hemispheres or are represented in North America by species very closely allied to their European prototypes.
The bear is one of the undoubtedly circumpolar species, for although distinct names have been given to its American representatives, with the exception of the grisly bear (Ursus horribilis), which is specifically different, all these are obviously nothing more than local forms or races of a single variable and widely distributed species.
Even in the Old World there are many distinct races of the brown bear. In Syria, for instance, we have a greyish race (U. arctus syriacus); while in Kashmir the coat is very generally deep cream-colour, although it tends to darken in old individuals of this race, which is known asU. a. isabellinus. From the British Isles the bear has long since been exterminated, but it survives in the wilder parts of Spain, France, Germany, and Hungary, while it is still comparatively common in many parts of Scandinavia and Russia, whence it extends right across Asia north of the southern flank of the Himalaya to Kamchatka and Japan; its southern limit to the east of the Himalaya being marked by the Siamese race (U. a. shanorum). Central Asian brown bears, of which the local races are not yet properly determined, generally have light-coloured coats, with a white gorget, which is wanting in Scandinavian and Russian bears. The largest Old World race is the Kamchadale brown bear (U. a. piscatororlasiotis), of which skins may measure as much as 9 feet in length.
On the opposite side of Bering Strait Alaska vies with Kamchatka in claiming the record in point of size among brown bears, while in the matter of local variation the representatives of the species put the rest of the world into the shade, for American naturalists recognise no fewer than half a dozen different races in Alaska alone. These include the huge Kodiak bear (U. a. middendorffi) of Kodiak Island, the Alaskan Peninsula bear (U. a. gyas), the gigantic Yakutat bear (U. a. dalli) from the neighbourhood of Yakutat Bay and the coast for an undetermineddistance north and south, the Sitka bear (U. a. sitkensis) of Sitka and Baranoff Islands, the Admiralty bear (U. a. eulophus) of Admiralty Island, and Kidder’s bear (U. a. kidderi) of the Alaskan Peninsula. All these are, however, so similar to one another, that it requires an expert to distinguish them.
bear
The grisly bear (U. horribilis) is, however, a distinct species, characterised, among other features, by its white claws. Typically a native of the high forests of the Rocky Mountains, the grisly is represented by two Alaskan races, namely,U. h. phæonyxof the interior, andU. h. kenaiensisof the Kenai Peninsula and adjacent coasts. It perhaps reappears in the Tian Shan range, in the heart of central Asia, in the shape of the so-calledU. leuconyx.
Bears are the least carnivorous of the Carnivora, subsisting in many districts almost entirely on fruits, nuts, shoots of trees, roots, honey, and ants, with an occasional meal of carrion. In Alaska, however, when the bears wake up from their winter sleep and come abroad they find the rivers almost choked with Pacific salmon which are ascending to spawn, and in these they find an abundant and nourishing food-supply upon which they rapidly grow fat. The duration of the winter-sleep, which may take place in a hollow tree, a cavern, or a cleft in the rocks, depends upon the length of the winter; and it is when they first issue forth from these lairs that bears are in their best coats, the summer fur being short and comparatively valueless, while the skins are also difficult to preserve owing to the fatness of the animals at this season. The females bring forth their cubs, one or two in number, during the period of hibernation.
Bears are to a great extent diurnal mammals, whose haunts are chiefly the forests, although in late summer they resort in many localities, such as Kashmir, to the open mountain pastures, where they may be seen grazing at no great distance from flocks of sheep or goats. The adults go about singly or in pairs, the females generally accompanied by their cubs, which may include those of two successive seasons.