Brown Bears
Introduction
Bears are big ferociousferocious mammals.mammals. Brown bears live on the continentscontinents of 
America,America, AsiaAsia and Europe.Europe. They like to live in grassygrassy places, forests,forests, snow, rivers, swamps and mountains.mountains. They are big omnivoreomnivore animals.
What Bears Look Like
Brown bears can weigh up to 140 kilogramskilograms and they can be as long as 2.5 metres.metres. They have thick shaggyshaggy fur in a lot of layerslayers to keep warm. Their fur can be black to light reddishreddish brown with silversilver tips. This is the meaningmeaning of grizzly.grizzly. Brown bears have small yellowyellow eyes, a long black nose and small ears. They have big strong bodybodies with a musclemuscly lump on the back and a short tail.
How Bears Move
On their feet they have long, sharp, curvedcurved claws that are good for digging,digging, catchingcatching fish and climbingclimbing trees. To catch prey, bears need to move quicklyquickly and they can run as fast as 40 kilometreskilometres per hour. They like to stand up and sniff the air, lookinglooking for dangerdanger or for food.
A brown bear feeding on a salmon.How Bears Eat
Brown bears eat fish, they especiallyespecially like salmon.salmon. They hunt mice and squirrelssquirrels and eat birds' eggs. They even hunt moose! Insects are part of their diet.diet. Above the ground they find flowers, nuts, herbs, berry,berries seeds and mushrooms.mushrooms. Under the ground they dig up roots. Bears reallyreally love honey.
Bears' Life Cycle
Bears can live for 40 years. They dig dens under trees and in banks. Through the long, cold winter,winter, they hibernatehibernate in their dens. Because of all the food they eat in the summer,summer, they have lots of body fat to get them through the winter.winter. The cubs are born then. There are two to four born in a litter.litter. They drink their mother's milk. When the babies grow up they lose the white spots on their necks. In the spring time they leave the den to play in the sunshine.sunshine. They leave there when they are three years old.
| Fact Box |
|
Bears hide their partly eaten food with sticks or leaves until it's time to feed again.
|
Bears in Danger
People are the main problemproblem for bears because huntershunters kill them. When bears are angryangry they put their paws on the ground, show their teeth and growl. SometimesSometimes they rear up.
Conclusion
Brown bears live in lots of places around the world. They come in lots of different colourscolours from silverysilvery to black. Being good at digging,digging, they can find lots of food and make their dens to hibernate and have their cubs in. They are wonderfulwonderful wild animals.
Glossary
| body fat | layer of fat under the skin |
| continents | big pieces of land |
| hibernate | sleeping through the winter |
| muscly hump | a hump that is full of muscle |
| omnivores | animals that eat meat and plants |
Bibliography
Mrs Nunweek's Brown Bear Fact File
By Millar
Photograph by Steve Hillebrand, Wikimedia Commons
{chronoconnectivity5}L2L_NF2_Feedback{/chronoconnectivity5}