Bears may be cute in stories and in stuffed form, but they’re not animals that you want to come across in the wild. Whether they’re black, brown, grizzly, or polar, they’re still bears. But distinctions do matter, which is why we’re looking at the differences between the grizzly bear and the brown bear.
Overview
Bears belong to the family Ursidae, which is divided into three subfamilies:
- Ailuropodinae: giant panda (2 subspecies).
- Tremarctinae: spectacled bear.
- Ursinae: sun bear (2 subspecies), sloth bear (2 subspecies), American black bear (16 subspecies), Asian black bear (7 subspecies), brown bear (16 subspecies), and the polar bear.
Among the brown bear species, the subspecies are as follows:
- Alaskan grizzly or Alaska Peninsula brown bear
- Eurasian or European brown bear
- Kamchatka or Far Eastern brown bear
- California grizzly or California golden bear (extinct)
- East Siberian brown bear
- Atlas or North African bear (extinct)
- Dall Island brown bear
- Mexican grizzly bear (extinct)
- Alaska Peninsula brown bear
- North American brown bear or grizzly bear
- Himalayan brown bear or red bear
- Ussuri or Amur brown bear
- Kodiak bear
- Tibetan blue or horse bear
- ABC Islands bear or Sitka brown bear
- Stickeen brown bear
- Steppe brown bear (extinct)
- Syrian brown bear
- Gobi bear
- Cantabrian or Iberian brown bear
- Marsican or Apennine brown bear
As you can see, the North American brown bear (grizzly) is actually a subspecies of brown bear.
Physical Appearance
Fortunately, despite the fact that we’re dealing with subspecies, there are enough of them for us to compare grizzly bears with a couple other brown bears:
- Grizzly bears: These bears got their name from their unique light or dark brown hair with gray tips that look grizzled. They’ve got a prominent shoulder hump and a pretty concave facial profile.
- Kodiak bears: Their brown fur also ranges from light to dark brown, but they lack the grizzly gray at the tips of their fur. Their limbs are impressively big, and their heads are also a bit broader.
- Syrian brown bears: Some of these bears have a much lighter color. So much so that you may wonder why they’re called brown bears. Their claws are white, and some individuals have markings that range from dark shoulders or head patches to dark lines that run down their backs.
- Tibetan blue bears: They’re by far the most unique brown bears out there, especially since they’ve got black fur with outer hair that give them a blue/gray look.
Size
In terms of size, grizzly bears aren’t like the other brown bear subspecies. Some of them are much smaller, while others can give them a run for their money. Here’s a glimpse at the varying sizes of different brown bear species:
- Grizzly bears: Average grizzlies can reach 9 feet when standing and their male weight can range from anything between 400 to 800 lbs. to over 1,000 lbs.
- Kodiak bears: They’re the largest of all the brown bear subspecies, and the second largest of all bears (right after the polar bear). They come in at over 9 feet tall, but those in captivity can reach 11 feet when standing. The heaviest Kodiak bear weighed 1,656 lbs.
- Kamchatka brown bear: These bears are the largest brown bear subspecies in Eurasia. They can reach 9 feet and 9 inches and more than 1,400 lbs.
- Syrian brown bears: They’re the smallest brown bear species in the world and they don’t typically surpass 6 feet in height. In terms of weight, we’re looking at just over 500 lbs.
Diet
All brown bears are opportunistic omnivores, so they eat what they can get when they need it. Furthermore, they’re also one of the species that could survive without eating for weeks during hibernation. Coastal bears, like the Alaskan Peninsula brown bear and Kodiak bear, incorporate a lot of fish and shellfish in their diets, but certainly a lot less than polar bears. Grizzly bears are the top apex predators in their region, so they’ve got more than enough to choose from. This includes Alaska, where they compete with black bears and polar bears.
All brown bear subspecies will eat plant matter (roots, fruits, berries, grass, etc.), insects, rodents, carrion, and a variety of large animals and ungulates (deer, elk, caribou, moose, etc.). Many are surprised to learn that most bears have a diet that only consists of about 10% meat.
Behavior
Unfortunately, inland brown bears don’t have as many food resources as those in the coastal regions. This makes them more solitary and certainly a lot more territorial because they’ve got to compete for what they’ve got. And this makes the grizzly bears dangerous.
I’d say the situation would be even worse when they’re preparing for hibernation because the pressure comes on. You should definitely take measures to protect yourself from bear attacks during these times. The rest of the brown bears are fine with sharing their territory and living in small groups because there’s less competition.
Habitat
If you want to see some grizzlies in real life, Katmai National Park and Preserve in Alaska houses the highest concentration of these bears in the country. Actually, there are more than 22,000 of them roaming around the park, so it’s one of the best places to spot wildlife in the US. This should give you a pretty good idea of what a grizzly bear’s habitat looks like. They’re also found in dense forests and alpine meadows in western Canada and parts of the northwestern US.
Coastal brown bears are more widely distributed along the coastal regions of Alaska, the rest of North America, Asia, and Europe. They thrive in various environments, from forests and grasslands to deserts.
Other Differences
Lifespan: The grizzly bear’s lifespan is 20 to 25 years. Other brown bears have the same range of expectancy, but some species, like the Syrian brown bear, can live for up to 40 years in captivity.
Gestation period: Grizzlies are pregnant for 180 to 250 days (6 to 8 months). It looks the same across the board, but some species have a couple of extra days. The Kamchatka brown bear’s gestation period is 180 to 266 days, while some Ussuri brown bear’s is 180 to 270 days. Overall, the average is 6 to 8 months.
Conservation status: Sadly, we’ve already lost a couple of brown bear subspecies along the way. Thus, it’s important that we protect the subspecies that we have left. The North American grizzly bear is listed as Least Concern, the Syrian brown bear is Endangered, the Gobi bear is Critically Endangered, and the Tibetan blue bear is Vulnerable.
