Brown bear
Mammals
Stable
facts
Brown bears measure 3 to 4 feet tall at the shoulder. Males are bigger than females.
Brown bears also live in open fields, mountain highlands, and tundra. They dig dens into hillsides.
description
Shades of brown
Brown bears are brown, right? Well, maybe! They come in all sizes and shades, from a light cream color to almost black. Grizzly bears are a type of brown bear, but not all brown bears are grizzlies! Brown bears can be found in northwestern North America, northern Asia, Europe, northern Africa, and the Middle East.
Paws with claws
One thing all brown bears around the world have in common is a hump of muscle on their back between the shoulders. Combined with huge paws and long front claws, the muscles make these animals powerful diggers. They dig up food like roots, but also sometimes need to dig into a hillside to make a den.
Do not disturb
Brown bears can spend 4 to 6 months a year curled up deep in sleep in a den. This "winter sleep" allows the bears to stay alive for a long period of time when there is little or no food available to them.