What forests does the brown bear live in? Brown bear and its varieties: interesting facts about forest giants. Where do wild bears live

Fur coloring brown bear various shades of brown, from dark brown, almost black, to brownish-yellow. The spot in the upper part of the chest is absent or weakly expressed. Ears are small and rounded. Body length up to 2 m, weight up to 300 kg (usually no more than 200 kg).

Brown bear

Brown bear habitat

The brown bear has been living in Russia since ancient times.

The brown bear is widely distributed in the forest zone up to the forest-tundra in the north. To the south, it used to reach the steppes, but due to increased human persecution, the southern border of the animal's range has now risen to the north, especially in the European part of the Russian Federation. In addition, it is found in the Caucasus, Transcaucasia, in the Tien Shan and Pamir mountains.

It is believed that brown bears have been living in our country since the Late Ice Age. At the beginning of the XX century. there were several hundred of them in Russia. They lived mainly in the dense forests of the northeastern part. In 1934, this beast was taken under protection. The number of bears began to grow. This is a record number, despite the fact that their original habitats in the north-eastern part of Estonia have become smaller in area due to the intensive development of industry. The bear moved to the south, settling forests on the western coast of Lake. Chudsky and in the Rakvere region. Now its traces can be seen not only in dense forests. During the day, he often stops in very small copses, from where it is not far to an apiary or an abandoned farm garden. Bear dens are increasingly found in quite busy places, near the clearing or the road. If no one bothers the animal in such a place, it will winter there for several years in a row.

Brown bear

Lifestyle of brown bears

Brown bears are the largest representatives of the order of carnivores. They feed on both plant and animal food. Vegetable food - berries, mushrooms, nuts, acorns, roots and tubers of various plants, young grass, oats, fruits, and especially the bear loves berries, oats and honey. He also eats various insects, snails, ants and their pupae, frogs, lizards, fish, etc. Animal food for a brown bear is not primary, but after tasting it, he begins to hunt mice, elks, wild boars, to kill sheep, horses. Affectionate nicknames for bears are called less and less often: with an increased number, these predators began to cause significant harm to the economy, attacking livestock, ruining apiaries and oat crops, as well as orchards.

The brown bear prefers large forests rich in berries with swamps, burnt areas and ravines. In the mountains, it often lives far from the forest and rises to high-mountain meadows to the border of snows, making seasonal migrations. It feeds on an extremely diverse diet, mainly berries, fruits, green parts of plants and small animals. The composition of feed varies depending on the season and locality. It eats wild berries in large quantities, stems of large umbrella plants, such as bear pipe, etc., cereals (immature oats), wild fruits, pine nuts, acorns, chestnuts, etc. Often and quite a lot eats ants, beetles and their larvae , Bee Honey. On occasion, the bear eats fish, frogs, lizards, rodents, birds and their eggs. He willingly eats carrion. This animal rarely attacks large animals, these cases are common only in the north and during hunger strikes in early spring and late autumn. Bears hide excess food in reserve, throwing branches, moss or turf at such places. By October-November, they become very fat and lie in dens. Hungry or sick animals that have not accumulated fat reserves remain to roam all winter. Such connecting rods are dangerous for pets and humans.

A bear's lair is arranged in a dry place under a windbreak, an eversion of roots, between rocks, etc. A snow-covered lair has only a small opening with frosted edges. The bear sleeps lightly - dozing, the stomach of the beast is empty in winter, and in the rectum there is a cork made of hard feces and fur of the beast. Bears leave the den in April - May (much earlier in the south).

The behavior of brown bears is very peculiar. The beast, feeling out of danger, wanders, breaking stumps, rolling stones and breaking branches. On an oat field, he chooses a position (sitting or lying) to make it more convenient to rake in the oats with his paws. He has a good sense of smell and hearing. Sensing danger, the bear rises to its hind legs. In the oat field, he also first rises on his hind legs to look around the surroundings, and only then starts feeding.

When meeting a person, a brown bear usually runs away: there is no evidence that it was the first to attack a person. However, there are cases when a wounded bear or she-bear rushed at a person if the person was between her and the cubs. Usually the she-bear calls the careless cubs to order, bouncing and purring. The bear climbs trees very cleverly: it will climb an apple tree and shake it so that the apples fall.

In the early 60s. in the Loobus forestry, such an incident happened to one of the foresters. He finished his detour in the forest, decided to go straight through the hayfield overgrown with bushes, and unexpectedly came upon the trail of a bear. The forester thought: what could wake the beast from hibernation at such an early time, because the snow had not yet melted. He didn't have to think long. The bear, angry and formidable, got up from the side of the ditch and headed into the dense thickets of bushes. As it turned out later, he was awakened the previous morning by workers who had come to the cutting area. Apparently, the animal went in search of a quieter place to lay in a new lair, but a young moose cow came across it. Their duel can only be described by the traces they left.

The elk fought back with all her might: she kicked the bear in the belly with such stubbornness that he involuntarily emptied his intestines. Usually, after hibernation, a bear is only capable of this after eating a large amount of cranberries. The platform on which the struggle took place not for life, but for death, was 15 X 20 m in size. It is not known how long this battle lasted, but the bear emerged victorious from it. He immediately satisfied his hunger and took care of the future: he dragged the elk carcass into the nearest ditch. Turning the carcass with its torn side to the ground, he covered it with moss, last year's grass, fallen leaves, and then with dry and fresh branches. I decided to cover my prey with a wrist-thick birch, but I couldn't break it. After working, the beast lay down to rest, and the next morning a forester met him.

The second incident also occurred in the north, in the Porkuni forestry. In the early 70s. many bears lived in those parts. One of them - a big gourmet - got into the habit of ruining apiaries. There was no salvation from him: he dragged 16 beehives from different farms, and then discovered that in the apiary near the central estate of the forestry they could not be counted. It turns out that they decided to expand the apiary there, brought new hives, carefully placed them on a field sown with grass, prudently fenced with a metal mesh 2 m high. The old hives were stacked near the forestry building at the very gates. At night, the bear, entering the gate, began to work on the stacked hives, but there were no bees or honey in them, and the thief was so angry that he broke many before trying his luck in the field. Having crushed the fence, he grabbed the hive from the field, dragged it from the apiary for several hundred meters and devastated it. This robber soon had to be killed. Under the skin of a honey lover there was a layer of fat of an unprecedented thickness - 10 cm.

In the cold season, brown bears hibernate, which, depending on weather conditions, lasts up to several months. The further south bears live, the less they sleep. If the peace of the animal in the winter lair is disturbed, it changes position or even place. Many bears make a bed of leaves and branches, some make a den near a fallen spruce to hide from the wind. Recently, they have become, as it were, lazier: they lie down in a forest near a stump or tree and sleep there until spring.

The rut of brown bears is in June - July. Pregnancy lasts about 7 months. Cubs (usually two) will be born in dens from the end of December to February. The cubs are born blind, helpless, weighing 600-700 g. They begin to see clearly after 30 days. Feeding the cubs with milk lasts about 5 months.

Together with a she-bear and young bear cubs - lonchaks, last year's brooders sometimes keep. A mother bear brings cubs in a year. Bears reach puberty in the third year of life.

Moulting occurs once a year, it begins at the end of April - June and lasts about 2 months. Bears grow fur in autumn.

Brown bear hunting

Hunting for a brown bear is usually carried out from an ambush set up on the edge of an oat field. Maintaining optimal numbers is possible thanks to carefully regulated shooting, the organization of the necessary protection and additional feeding. Additional feeding of bears is not carried out everywhere, but in the Tudu forestry, for example, for almost 10 years, carrion has been taken to places where bears usually live, and they eat it willingly. This, in our opinion, explains the viability and good growth of bears in these parts.

Origin of the species and description

According to scientists and archaeologists, bears descended from ancient martens about 3-4 million years ago. The remains of such an ancient species were discovered on the territory of modern France. It was small. This species evolved into a larger predatory beast - the Etruscan bear. Its territory extended to Europe and China. Presumably this species became the founder of large, black bears. Approximately 1.8-2 million years ago, cave predators of the bear family appeared. It was from them that brown and polar bears originated, which subsequently divided into many subspecies.

Appearance and features

The appearance of the predator is striking in its size and power. The weight of one adult individual reaches 300-500 kilograms, the body length is up to two meters. The largest representative of this species lives in the zoo of the capital of Germany. Its weight is 775 kilograms. Males are always larger and larger than females by about twice. The body has a barrel-shaped body, a massive withers. Powerful, developed limbs have five fingers and huge claws up to 15 cm long. There is a small rounded tail, the size of which does not exceed two tens of centimeters. A large head with a wide frontal part has an elongated nose, small eyes and ears.

The density and color of wool depends on the region of habitat. Bears molt in the summer. In the cold season, as well as during the period of mating, bears are especially aggressive. Predators spend almost half a year in a dream. They climb into the den, curl up in a ball. The hind limbs are pressed to the stomach, with the front ones I cover the muzzle.

The brown bear is a forest animal. It lives in dense forests with dense green vegetation. Places such as tundra, taiga, mountain ranges are an ideal habitat for clubfoot predators. Previously, the habitat ranged from England to China and Japan. Today, due to the extermination of the species, the habitat has been significantly reduced. Bears remained only on the territory of Russia, Alaska, Kazakhstan, Canada. Under natural conditions, one bear occupies an area from 70 to 150 kilometers.

• Eastern part of the Siberian taiga;
• Mongolia;
• Pakistan;
• Iran;
• Korea;
• Afghanistan;
• China;
• Foothills of the Pamir, Tien Shan, Himalayas;
• Kazakhstan.

Almost all bears live in areas near open water sources.

The brown bear is by nature a predatory animal. However, with confidence we can call it an omnivorous beast. He eats plant food most of the year. It is vegetation that makes up almost 70% of the entire diet of a predator. It is not excluded in the diet the presence of small bugs and insects, larvae.

By nature, these animals are endowed with the ability to fish. In connection with this, in the habitat there is almost always a water source in which the bear can catch fish. The predator has powerful, strong and very developed forelimbs. With a blow of one front paw, he is able to kill a wild boar or a deer. Often, small herbivorous mammals such as hares and raccoons become the object of prey.

In Russian folk tales, the brown bear appears as a sweet tooth and honey lover. And it is true. He really enjoys eating the honey of wild bees.

The basis of the diet of a brown bear is:

• forest berries, mainly raspberries, lingonberries, blueberries, wild strawberries;
• cereals;
• corn;
• fish;
• small and medium mammals -, wild,;
• representatives of the rodent family, frogs, lizards;
• forest vegetation - nuts, acorns.

The bear has a natural ability to adapt perfectly to any conditions. He is able to endure even hunger, and survives with a long absence of meat and fish. He tends to stock up. What the animal does not eat, it hides in the thickets of forest vegetation, and then eats up. It is noteworthy that it is not difficult for them to find the stocks they have made, since they have a well-developed memory.

Food can be obtained both at night and during the day. It is unusual for them to develop a hunting strategy, track down prey, attack. Only extreme need can push a bear to such a step. In search of food, they can often go to human settlements and exterminate domestic animals.

Features of character and lifestyle

Despite their large size and outward clumsiness, brown bears are very neat and almost silent animals. Predators are solitary animals. The territory of their habitat is divided between adults. One male covers an area of ​​50 to 150 square kilometers. Males occupy a territory 2-3 times larger than that of females. Each individual marks its territory with urine, claw marks on trees.

The brown bear is most active during daylight hours, mainly in the early morning. Able to run fast, reaching speeds up to 45-55 km / h. Able to climb trees, swim, move long distances. The predator has a very delicate sense of smell. He is able to smell meat at a distance of up to three kilometers.

These animals are characterized by a seasonal lifestyle. In the warm season, animals lead an active lifestyle, moving through the thickets of forests. In the cold season, bears sleep in dens. In the fall, bears begin to prepare for hibernation, arranging a place for this, as well as the accumulation of subcutaneous fat. Hibernation lasts from one to four to five months. It is noteworthy that the number of heartbeats, respiratory rate and arterial respiration during hibernation remain practically unchanged. During the period of hibernation, the animal loses a large amount of weight - up to 60-70 kilograms.

Bears are very scrupulous in choosing a place for winter sleep. It should be a secluded, quiet and dry place. The den should be warm and comfortable. Bears line the bottom of their shelter with dry moss. During sleep, they remain sensitive, shallow sleep. They are easily disturbed and awakened.

Social structure and reproduction

The mating season for brown bears begins in late spring and lasts for several months. Males during this period are quite aggressive. They tend to attack each other and fierce fights for the opportunity to mate with females. Also, males emit a loud, aggressive growl. Females, in turn, immediately enter into marriage relations with several males at once.

Bears tend to give birth to cubs about once every 2-3 years. The gestation period lasts approximately two hundred days. The fetus develops in the womb of the female only during hibernation. Most often, two or three cubs are born in the middle or towards the end of winter. The average weight of one baby does not exceed 500 grams, length - 22-24 cm.

Newborn cubs see and hear absolutely nothing. The hairline is poorly developed. After 10-12 days, the cubs begin to hear, after a month - to see. The mother bear feeds her offspring with milk in the den for three to four months. At this age, cubs have their first teeth, which allow them to expand their diet. However, with the appearance of teeth, the cubs do not stop eating mother's milk. It serves as a source of food for 1.5-2.5 years.

The cubs are under the care of their mother until they are 3-4 years old. At this point, they reach puberty and begin an independent existence. However, the growth period does not end, it continues for another 6-7 years.

The female is responsible for the upbringing and care of the babies. The mother bear, an adult female from the past offspring, also takes part in this process. Under natural conditions, a brown bear lives about 25-30 years. When existing in captivity, life expectancy can be doubled.

Natural enemies of the brown bear

The natural enemy of a predator is man and his activities. When existing in natural conditions, the beast has no other enemies. No animal dares to attack a bear. No one else has the strength and power to defeat him.

To date, the brown bear is listed in the Red Book as an endangered species. This phenomenon occurred as a result of human activity. The shooting of adults, as well as the capture of cubs, is widely considered an elite trophy for poachers. The skin of the animal is highly valued, as well as meat and bile.

Poachers sell meat at a high price to representatives of the restaurant business. The skins are sold as a raw material for making carpets. Bear fat and bile are in demand in the pharmaceutical industry for the manufacture of medicinal products.

Previously, bears were widespread and lived almost everywhere. On the territory of the British Isles, the last representative of this was killed in the 20th century. In Europe, in particular, in Germany, the species disappeared a little over a hundred years ago. In the south-east of the European territory, bears are found in a single number. Despite the fact that a representative of the bear family is listed in the Red Book, poachers continue to destroy representatives of the species.

Population and species status

To date, the brown bear is listed in the Red Book. The population has the status of an endangered species. Today, there are about 205,000 individuals in the world. Approximately 130,000 live on the territory of the Russian Federation.

The brown bear, depending on the habitat, is divided into several subspecies:

Siberian bear. By right it is considered the owner of the Siberian taiga forests.

Atlas bear. Today it is officially recognized as an extinct subspecies. The habitat ranged from Morocco to Libya, in the zone of the Atlas Mountains.

Completely destroyed by poachers and hunters. It was considered an integral part of the Californian flora and fauna.

Ussuri bear. Differs in more modest sizes and dark, almost black color.

Tibetan bear. One of the rarest representatives. The subspecies got its name due to its habitat on the Tibetan plateau.

It is considered the largest predator. Get your subspecies name thanks to the habitat region - the islands of the Kodiak archipelago. The mass of one adult individual reaches more than four hundred kilograms.

In order to preserve the species, the brown bear is listed in the Red Book. Hunting is strictly prohibited. Violation of this requirement is a criminal offence. On the territory of the Russian Federation, brown bears are bred in artificial conditions and released into the wild.

In 1975, an agreement was concluded between the USSR, England, Canada, Denmark, Norway on the adoption of joint measures in order to preserve and increase the species.

In 1976, a brown bear reserve was established on Wrangel Island.

One of the most beautiful, powerful and majestic predators - Brown bear. His habits, way of life are unique in their kind. That is why today such colossal efforts are being made to preserve this species.

The brown bear is a large predatory animal. It has a large head with small ears, powerful paws armed with sharp claws, and a short tail. The coat is quite thick, the color can have many shades from light brown to almost black.

The body length of an adult bear varies from one to three meters, and the weight is from 300 to 1000 kilograms. The size and weight of a bear depends on which subspecies it belongs to. The smallest bears live in Europe, while the largest ones live in Kamchatka, Alaska and Kodiak Island.

Spreading

Once upon a time, the brown bear lived throughout Europe, but now its numbers have greatly decreased, the animals have survived in the Carpathians, the Alps, in the forest regions of Central Europe and some other areas. The brown bear is found in the forests of Russia and in some Asian countries (China, Japan, Iraq, Iran, Palestine, etc.). In North America, the brown bear is called "grizzly", where it lives in America and Canada.

Mostly bears are forest dwellers. European brown bears prefer to settle in mountain forests, brown bears living in Russia are more common in dense lowland forests, and bears living in North America like the expanses of the tundra.

Food

Despite the fact that brown bears are predators, their diet is very diverse. Most of the menu is of vegetable origin, and only a quarter of the diet is meat. Bears willingly eat nuts, berries, succulent herbs, acorns, large tubers and plant roots. They can visit fields where they feast on corn, oats and other crops.

Bears do not refuse small prey either, catching frogs, lizards, mice and insects. Many bears are fishing. Sometimes they can hunt deer, roe deer, fallow deer and other ungulates.

All bears have a sweet tooth. They are very fond of honey from wild bees. And these powerful animals got their name precisely because of the love for honey.

Lifestyle

Bears are characterized by a seasonal rhythm of life. In the warm season, they lead an active life, and in the cold autumn they lie in a den. Bears make their dens in depressions under dry, broken trees, sometimes they spend the winter in caves. Hibernation lasts approximately five to six months.

Brown bears are solitary animals. They jealously guard their territory, making special marks on the trees with their claws. A bear that violates the designated border is immediately expelled from it. Despite external clumsiness, brown bears run fast and climb trees well.

Every two to four years, a she-bear gives birth to two to five cubs. Bear cubs are born small, blind and deaf, weighing about half a kilogram and a little more than 20 cm long. They appear in the den in winter, and grow noticeably by spring. The she-bear raises her cubs by herself. She is a very good mother, she always takes care of her kids and selflessly protects them.

Under natural conditions, brown bears live from 20 to 30 years, and in captivity - up to 50 years.

Brown bear brief information.

A well-known beast distributed almost throughout the northern hemisphere, a symbol of power, strength, the hero of many fairy tales and legends.

Systematics

Latin name– Ursus arctos

English name– brown bear

Squad - Predatory (Carnivora)

Family – Bear (Ursidae)

Genus - bears (Ursus)

The status of the species in nature

The brown bear is currently not threatened with extinction, with the exception of some subspecies that live in Western Europe and southern North America. In these places, animals are protected by law. Where the animal is numerous, limited hunting is allowed.

View and person

For a long time, the bear has occupied the imagination of people. Because of the way it often rises on its hind legs, the bear, more than any other animal, looks like a person. "The owner of the forest" - this is how he is usually called. The bear is a character in many fairy tales, many sayings and proverbs have been composed about him. In them, most often, this beast appears as a good-natured bumpkin, a slightly stupid strong man, ready to protect the weak. A respectful and condescending attitude towards this beast can be seen from the popular names: “Mikhailo Potapych”, “Toptygin”, “clubfoot” .... Comparison of a man himself with a bear can be both flattering for him (“strong as a bear”), and derogatory ( "clumsy as a bear").

The bear is very common as a coat of arms, it is a symbol of strength, cunning and ferocity in the defense of the fatherland. Therefore, it is depicted on the emblems of many cities: Perm, Berlin, Bern, Yekaterinburg, Novgorod, Norilsk, Syktyvkar, Khabarovsk, Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk, Yaroslavl and others.

Distribution area and habitats

The distribution area of ​​​​the brown bear is very extensive, covering the entire forest and forest-tundra zones of Eurasia and North America, in the north it extends to the border of forests, in the south along the mountainous regions it reaches Asia Minor and Western Asia, Tibet, and Korea. At present, the range of the species, once continuous, has been significantly reduced to more or less large fragments. The beast disappeared on the Japanese Islands, in the Atlas Mountains in northwestern Africa, in most of the Iranian Plateau, in the vast Central Plain in North America. In Western and Central Europe, this species has remained only in small mountainous areas. On the territory of Russia, the distribution area has changed to a lesser extent, as before, the animal is quite common in the forests of Siberia and the Far East, in the Russian North.

The brown bear is a typical forest dweller. Most often, it is found in vast taiga massifs, abounding in windbreak, moss swamps and dissected by rivers, and in the mountains - by gorges. The animal gives preference to forests with dark coniferous species - spruce, fir, cedar. In the mountains, he lives among deciduous forests, or in juniper forests.

Appearance and morphology

The brown bear is a very large massive animal, one of the largest land predators. Within the family, the brown bear is second in size only to the white. The largest of the brown bears live in Alaska, they are called Kodiaks, the body length of Kodiaks reaches 250 cm, the height at the withers is 130 cm, and the weight is up to 750 kg. The bears that live in Kamchatka are only slightly inferior to them in size. In central Russia, the weight of "typical" bears is 250-300 kg.

The brown bear is complex as a whole in proportion, a massive appearance is given to it by thick fur and slowness of movements. The head of this beast is heavy, lobed, not as elongated as that of the white one. The lips, like the nose, are black, the eyes are small, deep-set. The tail is very short, completely hidden in the fur. The claws are long, up to 10 cm, especially on the front paws, but slightly curved. The fur is very thick and long, especially in animals living in the northern part of the range. The coloration is usually brown, but in different animals it can vary from almost black to straw yellow.

Of the sense organs of a brown bear, the sense of smell is best developed, hearing is weaker, and vision is poor, so that the beast is almost not guided by it.

Lifestyle and social organization

Brown bears, unlike whites, are mostly sedentary. EachAn individual site occupied by one animal can be very extensive, and cover an area of ​​up to several hundred square meters. km. The boundaries of the plots are poorly marked, and in very rugged terrain they are practically absent. The areas of males and females overlap. Within the site there are places where the animal usually feeds, where it finds temporary shelters or lies in a den.

In places where bears live permanently, their regular movements around the site are marked by well-marked trails. They look like human paths, only in contrast to them, along the bear paths, shreds of bear hair often hang on the branches, and bear marks remain on the trunks of especially conspicuous trees - bites with teeth and bark, peeled off by claws at the height that the beast can reach. Such marks show other bears that the area is occupied. Paths connect the places where the bear is guaranteed to find food. Bears lay them in the most convenient places, choosing the shortest distance between objects that are significant to them.

A sedentary lifestyle does not prevent the bear from making seasonal migrations to places where food is more available at the moment. In lean years, a bear is able to travel 200-300 km in search of forage. In the flat taiga, for example, the animals spend the summer in glades overgrown with tall grass, in early autumn they are drawn to the swamps, where they are attracted by ripe cranberries. In the mountainous regions of Siberia, at the same time, they move to the zone of loaches, where they find an abundance of pine nuts and lingonberries. On the Pacific coast, during the mass movement of red fish, animals from afar come to the mouths of the rivers.

A characteristic feature of the brown bear, which is characteristic of both males and females, is winter sleep in a den. Lairs are located in the most secluded places: on small islands among moss swamps, among windbreaks or dense undergrowth. Bears arrange them most often under eversion and decks, under the roots of large cedars and firs. In mountainous areas, earthen lairs prevail, which are located in rock crevices, shallow caves, and depressions under stones. From the inside, the lair is arranged very carefully - the animal lines the bottom with moss, branches with needles, bunches of dry grass. Where there are few suitable places for wintering, dens used for many years in a row form real “bear towns”: for example, in Altai, 26 dens were found on a 10 km long stretch.

In different places, bears sleep in winter from 2.5 to 6 months. In warm regions, with a plentiful harvest of nuts, bears do not lie in a den for the whole winter, but only from time to time, under adverse conditions, fall asleep for several days. Bears sleep alone, only females who have cubs of the year go to bed with their cubs. During sleep, if the beast is disturbed, it easily wakes up. Often the bear itself leaves the den during long thaws, returning to it at the slightest cold snap.

Feeding and feeding behavior

The brown bear is a real omnivore, eating more vegetable than animal feed. It is most difficult for a bear to feed himself in early spring, when plant food is completely scarce. At this time of the year, he hunts large ungulates, eats carrion. Then he digs up anthills, extracting larvae and the ants themselves. From the beginning of the appearance of greenery and until the mass ripening of various berries, the bear spends most of its time on “bear pastures” - forest clearings and meadows, eating umbrella plants (hogweed, angelica), sow thistle, wild garlic. From the second half of summer, when berries begin to ripen, throughout the forest zone, bears switch to eating them: first blueberries, raspberries, blueberries, honeysuckle, later lingonberries, cranberries. The autumn period, the most important for preparing for winter, is the time of eating the fruits of trees. In the middle lane, these are acorns, hazelnuts, in the taiga - pine nuts, in the mountainous southern forests - wild apples, pears, cherries, mulberries. The bear's favorite food in early autumn is ripening oats.

Eating grass in the meadow, the bear peacefully "grazes" for hours, like a cow or a horse, or collects the stems he likes with his front paws and puts them in his mouth. Climbing fruit-bearing trees, this sweet tooth breaks off branches, eating fruits on the spot, or throws them down, sometimes just shakes the crown. Less dexterous animals graze under the trees, picking up fallen fruits.

The brown bear willingly digs in the ground, extracting succulent rhizomes and soil invertebrates, turns over stones, extracting and eating worms, beetles and other living creatures from under them.

Bears living along the rivers off the Pacific coast are avid anglers. During the course of the red fish, they gather in dozens at the riffles. While fishing, the bear goes belly-deep into the water and with a strong quick blow of the front paw throws a fish that has swum close to the shore.

Large ungulates - deer, elk - the bear hides, completely silently approaching the victim from the leeward side. Roe deer sometimes lie in wait in ambush along trails or at a watering hole. His attack is swift and almost irresistible.

Reproduction and rearing of offspring

The mating season for bears begins in May-June. At this time, males chase females, roar, fight fiercely, sometimes with a fatal outcome. At this time they are aggressive and dangerous. The formed pair walks together for about a month, and if a new applicant appears, he is driven away not only by the male, but also by the female.

The cubs (usually 2) are born in the den in January, weighing only about 500 g, covered with sparse fur, with their eyes and ears closed. Ear openings in cubs are outlined by the end of the second week, after another 2 weeks their eyes open. All their first 2 months of life, they lie at their mother's side, moving very little. The bear's sleep is not deep, because she needs to take care of the cubs. By the time they leave the den, the cubs reach the size of a small dog, weighing from 3 to 7 kg. Milk feeding lasts up to six months, but already at the age of 3 months, young animals begin to gradually master plant foods, imitating their mother.

The entire first year of life, the cubs stay with their mother, spending another winter with her in the den. At the age of 3-4 years, young bears become sexually mature, but they reach full bloom only at the age of 8-10 years.

Lifespan

In nature, for about 30 years, in captivity they live up to 45-50 years.

Keeping animals in the Moscow Zoo

Brown bears have been kept in the zoo since the year of its foundation - 1864. Until recently, they lived on the "Island of Animals" (New Territory) and in the Children's Zoo. In the early 90s, a bear from a children's zoo was brought as a gift to the first president of Russia, B.N. Yeltsin, by the governor of Primorsky Krai. The President prudently did not keep "this little animal" at home, but handed it over to the zoo. When the first reconstruction was going on, the bear temporarily left Moscow, visited another zoo, and then returned. Now the second reconstruction is underway, and the bear again left Moscow, this time to the Veliky Ustyug Zoo, where he will live permanently.

Currently, there is one brown bear in the zoo, which lives on the "Island of animals". This is an elderly female of the Kamchatka subspecies, a classic brown color, very large. All winter she sleeps soundly in her lair, despite the noisy life of the metropolis. People help to equip the winter "apartment": the bottom of the "lair" is lined with coniferous branches, on top - a hay feather bed. Before falling asleep, both in nature and in the zoo, bears eat needles - a bactericidal plug is formed in the intestines. It is not the noise that can wake up the animals, but the prolonged warming, as happened in the winter of 2006-2007.

Brown bears endure captivity conditions well, but, of course, they get bored, because in nature they spend most of their time looking for and getting food, which they don’t have to do in a zoo. Mandatory attributes in a bear enclosure are tree trunks. The bears tear them with their claws, leaving their marks, they try to look for food under the bark and in the wood, and finally, they play with small logs. And out of boredom, bears begin to interact with visitors. For example, our she-bear sits on her hind legs, and starts waving her front legs to people. Everyone around rejoices and throws a wide variety of objects into her aviary, most often food. Something thrown is eaten, something is simply sniffed - the animal is full. Scientists believe that in this way the bear not only begs for food or makes its environment more diverse, it begins to control the behavior of visitors: waved - they gave a tasty treat. This relieves the stress of keeping in a small enclosure and living according to a certain routine. But still there is no need to feed the animals in the zoo - their diets are balanced, and much of what we eat is harmful to them.

Very often in the spring and in the first half of summer, phone calls are heard in the zoo - people want to attach cubs found in the forest. We urge everyone who saw a bear cub in the forest - do not take it! The mother is most likely somewhere nearby, she can stand up for her cub, and this is very dangerous for you! The baby could be driven away by an adult male caring for the bear, but you never know what reasons, except for the death of the bear, could lead the bear cub to people. A bear that has fallen to a person is doomed to be killed, or to spend life in captivity. A bear cub left alone in the forest at the age of 5-6 months (July-August) has a very good chance to survive and live free. Don't deprive him of this chance!

On the territory of the Russian Federation, two types of bear representatives are mainly found, these are the Brown bear and the Polar bear. Let's consider each of the types separately:

(Ursus arctos): The brown bear in Russia is still quite common in the forests of Siberia and the Far East, in Kamchatka. In summer, it often enters the tundra and highlands. In Chukotka, it is often found in the tundra.
In Russia, its usual habitats are forests with windbreak and burnt areas with dense growth of deciduous trees, shrubs and grasses, it is also often found near meadows and fields of oats.

Appearance: It is difficult to confuse brown bears with other animals - they are all large, shaggy, clumsy build, with a large head, small ears and a short tail. The eyes glow dark red at night. The body length is up to 2 m, in Far Eastern bears - up to 2.8 m. There is a clearly visible depression between the forehead and the bridge of the nose in profile. In a standing animal, the withers are noticeably higher than the croup. The coloration is brown, rarely black or reddish, in Caucasian animals it is usually lighter. There is a light stripe on the shoulders, especially often in young and South Kuril bears. Occasionally there is also a light spot on the chest. Ears are small and rounded.

The tracks are very wide and deep, five-fingered, distinguished by long claws and clubfoot (this paw setting is more convenient for climbing trees). The length of the fingerprints on the traces of the forepaws is 2-3 times less than the length of the palm print.

Average dimensions: body length: up to 200 cm, height at the withers: up to 100 cm, weight: up to 600 kg, claw length up to 10 cm.

Behavior and lifestyle: Brown bears are more active at dusk and at night, but sometimes they also walk during the day.

Brown bears are mostly sedentary, moving along habitual paths. Bears lay them in the most convenient places, choosing the shortest distance between objects that are significant to them. Despite the sedentary lifestyle, bears make seasonal migrations to places where food is currently available. In lean years, a bear can walk 200-300 km in search of food. For example, on the coast of the Pacific Ocean, during the mass run of red fish, bears come from afar to the mouths of rivers.

In winter, bears hibernate in a den. In different habitats, bears sleep from 2.5 to 6 months in winter.

From the inside, the lair is arranged very carefully - the animal lines the bottom with moss, branches with needles, bunches of dry grass. Lairs are located on small islands among moss swamps, among windbreaks or dense undergrowth. Bears arrange them under the eversion and decks, under the roots of large cedars and firs. In mountainous areas, bears settle in earthen dens, which are located in rock crevices, shallow caves, and depressions under stones.

The bears sleep alone, only the females, whose cubs appeared this year, sleep together with the cubs.

Bears sleep very sensitively, if the animal is disturbed, it easily wakes up, leaves the den and wanders around in circles for a long time before lying down again. Often, bears themselves leave their dens during prolonged thaws, returning to it at the slightest cold snap.

In summer, male bears mark the boundaries of the territory, standing on their hind legs and tearing off the bark from trees with their claws. Where there are no trees, bears tear up any suitable objects, such as clay slopes.

Diet: The brown bear is an omnivore, eating both plant and animal foods, but most of its diet is, oddly enough, plant foods.

It is most difficult for a bear to feed himself in early spring, when there is not enough plant food. At this time of the year, he sometimes hunts even large ungulates, eats carrion, digs up anthills, extracting larvae and the ants themselves.

From the beginning of the appearance of greenery and until the mass ripening of various berries, the bear spends most of its time in forest clearings and meadows, eating umbrella plants (hogweed, angelica), sow thistle, wild garlic. When the berries begin to ripen, the bears begin to eat them: first, blueberries, raspberries, blueberries, honeysuckle, later - lingonberries, cranberries.

The autumn period is the most important for preparing for winter. At this time, bears eat acorns, hazel nuts, in the taiga - pine nuts, in the southern mountain forests - wild apples, pears, cherries, mulberries. Climbing fruit-bearing trees, the bear breaks branches, eating fruits on the spot, or throws them down, and sometimes simply shakes the crown.

In early autumn, the bear loves to eat ripening oats. Less dexterous animals graze under the trees, picking up fallen fruits. The brown bear willingly digs in the ground, extracting succulent rhizomes and soil invertebrates, turns over stones, extracting and eating worms, beetles and other living creatures from under them. Bears living near the rivers of the Pacific coast during the course of red fish gather in dozens at the riffles and cleverly catch fish.

Reproduction: The breeding season for brown bears is May-June. At this time, the males are rapidly sorting out the relationship. The formed pair stays together for about a month, and if a new applicant appears, he is driven away not only by the male, but also by the female. In January, in the den, bears bring from 1 to 4 cubs, which weigh only 500 g. The cubs' eyes open after a month. After 2-3 months, the babies come out. By the time they leave the den, they weigh from 3 to 7 kg. The mother feeds the cubs for up to six months. But already at the age of 3 months, young animals begin to eat plant foods, imitating a bear. The entire first year of life, the cubs stay with their mother, spending another winter with her in the den. At the age of 3-4 years, young bears become sexually mature, but they reach full bloom only at the age of 8-10 years.

Lifespan: In nature, for about 30 years, in captivity they live up to 45-50 years.

Habitat: Each individual site occupied by one animal can be very extensive, and cover an area of ​​up to several hundred square meters. km. The boundaries of the plots are poorly marked, and in very rugged terrain they are practically absent. The areas of males and females overlap. Within the site there are places where the animal usually feeds, where it finds temporary shelters or lies in a den.

Economic value: The bear serves as an object of sport hunting. Fat and bile are used for medicinal purposes. The value of bear bile provokes poaching of bears. Bear fat, like other hibernating animals, contains a large amount of vitamins and has healing properties.

In the mythology of most peoples of Eurasia and North America, the bear serves as a link between the world of people and the world of animals. Primitive hunters considered it obligatory, having obtained a bear, to perform a rite of ritual, asking for forgiveness from the spirit of the slain. Kamlanie is still performed by the indigenous inhabitants of the deaf regions of the North and the Far East. In some places, killing a bear with a firearm is still considered a sin. The ancient ancestors of European peoples were so afraid of the bear that it was forbidden to pronounce its names arctos (among the Aryans in the 5th-1st millennia BC, later among the Latin peoples) and mechka (among the Slavs in the 5th-9th centuries AD). Nicknames were used instead: ursus among the Romans, bear among the ancient Germans, vedmid or bear among the Slavs. Over the centuries, these nicknames turned into names, which, in turn, were also banned from hunters and replaced by nicknames (for Russians - Mikhailo Ivanovich, Toptygin, Boss). In the early Christian tradition, the bear was considered the beast of Satan.

The meat of bears is almost always infected with worms, especially in old and weakened animals. Therefore, it should be eaten with great care. Of particular danger is trichinosis, which infects up to a third of brown bears. Trichins do not die when smoked, frozen or salted; meat can be reliably disinfected only by heat treatment, for example, by boiling for half an hour.

(Ursus maritimus): The polar bear is the largest predator of the animal kingdom. Body length 1.6-3.3 m, weight of males 400-500 kg (sometimes up to 750), females - up to 380 kg. The bear swims and dives excellently, swims into the open sea for tens of kilometers. Moves quickly on ice. Leads a solitary lifestyle, but sometimes there are groups of 2-5 animals; several bears may gather near large carrion.

Habitats: In Russia, the polar bear constantly lives in the space from Franz Josef Land and Novaya Zemlya to Chukotka. On floating ice it sometimes reaches Kamchatka. Distant visits deep into the mainland (up to 500 km along the Yenisei River) have been noted. The southern boundary of the habitat coincides with the edge of drifting ice. As the ice melts and breaks, the bears move to the northern boundary of the Arctic Basin. With the onset of stable ice formation, the animals begin a reverse migration to the south.

Behavior and lifestyle: Polar bears prey on pinnipeds, mainly ringed seals, bearded seals and harp seals. They come out on land in the coastal zones of the islands and the mainland, hunt walrus cubs, also eat sea debris, carrion, fish, birds and their eggs, less often - rodents, berries, mosses and lichens. Pregnant females lie in dens, which are arranged on land from October to March-April. In broods usually 1-3, more often 1-2 cubs. Until the age of two, they stay with the she-bear. The maximum lifespan of a polar bear is 25-30 years, rarely more.

The polar bear has an incomparable resistance to cold. Its thick long fur consists of hairs that are hollow in the middle and contain air. Many mammals have this protective hollow hair, an effective insulator, but those of the bear have their own characteristics. Polar bear fur retains heat so well that it cannot be detected by aerial infrared photography. Excellent thermal insulation is also provided by the subcutaneous layer of fat, which reaches 10 cm in thickness with the onset of winter. Without it, the bears would hardly be able to swim 80 km in the icy Arctic water.

In July, many of the polar bears that traveled with drifting ice move to the coasts of the continents and islands. On land, they become vegetarians. They feed on grasses, sedges, lichens, mosses and berries. When there are many berries, the bear does not consume any other food for weeks, eating them to the point that his muzzle and buttocks turn blue from blueberries. However, the longer the bears starve, forced to move to land ahead of time from the melting ice as a result of warming, the more often they go in search of food to people who have been actively developing the Arctic in recent decades.

It is difficult to answer the question whether a meeting with a polar bear is dangerous for a person. Sometimes bears attacked people out of curiosity, quickly realizing that they were easy prey. But most often, tragic incidents happen on campsites, where bears are attracted by the smell of food. Usually the bear goes immediately to the smell, crushing everything in its path. The situation is complicated by the fact that the animal, in search of food, tears to pieces and tastes everything that comes across to it, including people who have turned up by chance.

It should be noted that bears, unlike wolves, tigers and other dangerous predators, have practically no facial muscles. They never warn of impending aggression. By the way, circus trainers claim that because of this feature, it is most dangerous to work with bears - it is almost impossible to predict what to expect from them in the next moment.

Now, thanks to the efforts of Greenpeace, they try not to kill bears wandering into the city in search of food, resorting to temporarily sleeping shots from a special gun. The sleeping animal is weighed, measured and recorded. A colored tattoo is applied to the inside of the lip - a number that remains for the whole bear's life. Females, in addition, receive a collar with a miniature radio beacon as a gift from zoologists. The euthanized bears are then transported by helicopter back to the ice so that they can continue their normal lives in their natural habitat. Moreover, females with cubs are transported in the first place.

Females produce offspring every three years. Thanks to natural selection, the process of pregnancy was amazingly synchronized with the period of hibernation. In October or November, pregnant female bears leave the sea ice and head to the nearest land in search of a den where they raise their young during the long polar night. Having reached the land, the she-bear looks for a suitable place for a long time until she chooses a deepening or a cave in a snowdrift of old snow. Gradually, blizzards cover the lair and leave traces that give away its location. A few months later, tiny bear cubs no larger than a rat appear inside the snow den. Newborn bears, burrowing into their mother's fur, immediately look for nipples and begin to suck. The claws of the baby bear are curved and sharp - this helps him to hold on to the soft fur on the belly of the bear.

Meanwhile, the female is starving, and her weight drops by almost half. But she can go hunting only when her children grow up and gain strength. The cubs need time to get used to the arctic temperature after several months of living in a den warm from their mother's body. After 2-3 months, the weight of the cubs increases by 4-5 times, and the family begins to take short walks in the immediate vicinity of the dwelling. The she-bear introduces the cubs to their new environment, teaches them how to hunt and shows amazing patience with the playful games and curiosity of the cubs. The she-bear takes care of her cubs until they become independent.

Fathers, as is often the case in nature, do not take the slightest part in the fate of their offspring, shifting all the worries about the food of the cubs onto the shoulders of the she-bear. However, food is not the only problem facing a female with cubs. The real threat comes from adult males who compete with each other for possession of the female. Given the chance, a large male could easily kill her cubs. The female will then go into heat again and he can mate with her to ensure that the next generation will inherit his genes. Therefore, females are very vigilant and do not let the cubs go far from them.

The population of polar bears, which was on the verge of extinction in the 60s, thanks to the work of nature conservation societies, is gradually recovering. And now about 20,000 polar bears roam in the polar region, the true owners of snowy fields and Arctic ice.