Overview
Smaller and darker than the Kamchatka brown bear, with a differently shaped skull and much larger teeth. The coat is often almost black in color. The skull is longer and narrower, with especially long nasal bones and it is flatter in profile, being less elevated over the nose. The ears are noticeably hairy.
Taxonomy
- Kingdom
- Animalia
- Phylum
- Chordata
- Class
- Mammal
- Family
- Ursidae
- Genus
- Ursus
- Species
- Ursus arctos
Habitat
Remote mountains and forests. Distribution- Russia: Maritime Territory, and the Ussuri/Amur river region south of the Stanovoy Range. China: Northeastern Heilongjiang. Japan: Hokkaido.
Diet
Omnivorous, it eats grasses, sedges, roots, bulbs, berries, rodents, salmon and also carrion.
Behavior
Unsociable and usually solitary except when mating or when forced by circumstances to share a salmon fishery with other bears. With no enemies other than humans, it is active at all hours. Breeding takes place during May and June. The female mates every second or third year, producing a litter of cubs (1-4, but usually two), which are born in the den in January or February. She is an excellent mother, the cubs remaining with her at least two years, and often three or four. An Alaska brown bear is full grown at 10-11 years and has a life expectancy, barring accidents, of 25-30 years. Individuals have lived more than 36 years in captivity. Eyesight is only fair, but hearing and sense of smell are very acute. Usual pace is a slow walk, but capable of running fast. Unable to jump. An excellent swimmer. Cubs can climb trees, but adults, with their long foreclaws and heavy bodies, cannot. Normally silent, but can growl, grunt, roar, sniff and cough. Extremely strong and highly alert. Usually cautious and unaggressive toward man, but there are exceptions. Retires to its den during the cold of winter and sleeps for months. A sleeping bear can come to life with little provocation. A bear will often leave its den in late winter to briefly wander outside.
Hunting
The Amur brown bear is hunted on foot under trying conditions. Wearing hipboots and rain gear and carrying a heavy rifle, the hunter must wade rivers and negotiate muskeg swamps, tag alder thickets, steep mountainsides and soft snow. Should he find a good bear after long hours of glassing and waiting, he must get within range quickly because bears seldom remain in one place for long. He must shoot well, for a wounded brown bear is a very serious matter. He should be prepared to spend as many as half his allotted hunting days confined to his tent (or cabin, if he is lucky) in weather too foul to hunt in. He can count on being wet, cold, and bone-tired much of the time.
Conservation Status
The species as a whole is listed as Least Concern by IUCN, but the classification does not distinguish this subspecies. More information is needed to ascertain the current population dynamics of the Amur Brown Bear.