Brown bear Facts
The brown bear is a large omnivorous bear of Eurasia and North America, rivaled in size among land carnivorans only by the polar bear.
- Class
- Mammal
- Scientific name
- Ursus arctos
- Conservation status
- Least concern (IUCN)
About the brown bear
Fur on a brown bear can be cream, reddish or dark brown. It has large hump muscles, a feature no other bear has, and paws as wide as 21 cm (8.3 in) and as long as 36 cm (14 in) for digging. Males are bigger and more compact than females. Mostly a forest animal, it lives at elevations up to 5,000 m (16,000 ft).
Plants supply about 90% of its food, despite its reputation as a meat eater. When it does hunt, prey ranges from insects and rodents to moose and muskoxen, and in parts of coastal Alaska it feeds mostly on spawning salmon. Most of the year it lives alone, meeting others only to mate or raise cubs. Mothers have one to three cubs on average, which stay with her for 1.5 to 4.5 years.
Did you know?
- Brown bears live about 25 years on average in the wild.
- In 2017, the global brown bear population was estimated at 110,000.
- Attacks on humans get wide coverage, but they are generally rare.
Questions about the brown bear
What do brown bears eat?
They are omnivores, getting about 90% of their diet from plants and also eating animals from insects to moose.
Are brown bears endangered?
No. The IUCN lists the brown bear as least concern, though it has disappeared from parts of its former range.
Sources
- Wikidata Q36341, checked October 8, 2026
- Wikipedia: Brown bear, checked October 8, 2026
Facts are compiled from these open sources and rewritten in our own words. Spotted something out of date? Tell us.