Overview
A smaller brown bear, considerably paler in color than the Eurasian brown bear to the north, with a coarser and sparser coat. Color varies from pale straw to dull grayish-brown, with a large dark brown patch of long hair on the withers and sometimes a rather wide dorsal stripe extending back from it. There may be a dark brown patch on the head and sometimes there is a white collar. The claws are straighter and lighter in color than in northern races. Smaller, lighter colored bears tend to occur at higher altitudes, with larger and darker bears in the forests below.
Taxonomy
- Kingdom
- Animalia
- Phylum
- Chordata
- Class
- Mammal
- Family
- Ursidae
- Genus
- Ursus
- Species
- Ursus arctos
Habitat
Mountains and adjacent steppe grasslands. Distribution- Anatolia (Asian Turkey), Syria, Iraq, Iran, and the Caucasus region of Russia, Georgia and Azerbaijan.
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 Mideastern 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 Mideastern Brown Bear.