Brown bears are a small closed groupa squad of predatory mammals. They live in mountain forests and taiga. In addition to Russia, they are found in the Atlas Mountains (north of Africa), in Asia and Europe. By now, their number has declined and numbered 125-150 thousand individuals.
Unlike many predatory animals brown bearseat and vegetal food. They love roots, young shoots of plants, mushrooms, nuts, berries and can not eat meat for a long time. Although their main food is small rodents, a variety of insects and honey.
It is believed that white and brown bears are clumsy.So you can speak only at the time when they are preparing for hibernation. The rest of the time they swim well, overcoming a strong current, while the browns also deftly climb the slopes and trees. These predators are able to escape for a long time and quickly, pursuing the victim. Forces do not occupy the bear, they can drag prey weighing 5 quintals several kilometers.
Brown bears have excellent hearing andthe sense of smell. But they do not see very much, especially fixed objects. They live on average 30-40 years, they can live up to 45 in captivity. They live in certain areas, considering them their property and protecting them from encroachments of strangers.
Making them leave their favorite places canonly hunger. In search of food, they are able to go hundreds of kilometers, because to hibernation they need to accumulate up to 10 cm of the fat layer, so that it is enough for the entire period of sleep. Hungry brown bears do not go to bed, becoming rods. In such a period, they are very dangerous, they can attack wild animals and even people, wandering into settlements.
For the den, brown bears look for deafplaces, carefully tangling their own tracks. The first days in the den bear barely slumber, but not asleep. Winter sleep is shallow and differs from the hibernation of other animals. During sleep, their body temperature drops slightly (only 3-4 degrees), and body weight decreases to about 40%. The duration of hibernation depends on the weather, age and health of the bear. As a rule, they wake up in April.
The cubs of the bear are born in the middle of winter,females do not wake up at the same time. Babies appear blind, naked, toothless, weighing no more than 0.5 kg. Eating fat milk of the mother, they grow fast enough. By the time they exit the den, they weigh 6-7 kg and manage to grow their hair.
Male, leaving the den, begins to actively seekfood, gain weight. Dipper behaves quite differently: she finds the food she gives to the kids, no matter how hungry. At the same time, she closely watches whether her offspring are not threatened. All the summer the mother wanders with cubs, teaching the necessary skills. By the fall, the young grow up well, but the cub does not leave the bear. In the next season, when the mother has new cubs, the elders (they are called pestuns) will patronize them. Surprisingly, the family always moves in a certain order: mother in front, followed by babies, at the end - pestuny.
Brown bears are known to man since ancient times.However, there are many unexplored issues related to their lives. For example, why some individuals are tired of the dens somehow, and others carefully prepare it. Why do some go to sleep in the place where they live, while others leave for hundreds of kilometers? Let's hope that answers to these and other questions will be found, and the number of these animals will increase.
