Fun Eurasian Brown Bear Facts For Kids

The Eurasian brown bear happens to be one of the subspecies of the widespread brown bear. The Eurasian or European brown bears are found mostly in the northern Eurasian regions in the mountain woodlands. There are about 117,000 Eurasian brown bears left in the world. They are found in small quantities in other countries in Europe and Central Asia. These bears are not the same as grizzly bears. There are six different bears referred to as grizzly bears. Eurasian brown bears are mostly solitary getting together only for the breeding season. However, the mother may stay with her cubs for a couple of years at least. Eurasian brown bears feed on a diet of things like berries, nuts, seeds, small mammals, fruits, sheep, deer, carrion, and grasses. Their vision is rather poor, but the sense of smell is terrific. They can also run very fast. Eurasian brown bear attacks are very rare, however. Since they are not a separate species, the Eurasian brown bears have not been evaluated by the IUCN.

For more relatable content, check out these brown bear interesting facts and black bear facts for kids.
 

What type of animal is a Eurasian brown bear?

The Eurasian brown bear is a bear.

What class of animal does a Eurasian brown bear belong to?

The Eurasian brown bear belongs to the Mammalia class of animals.

How many Eurasian brown bears are there in the world?

There are an estimated 117,000 Eurasian brown bears left in the world, with about 100,000 of them living in Russia.

Where does a Eurasian brown bear live?

The Eurasian brown bear populations are found mostly in northern Eurasia. Most of these wild bears live in Russia (more than half in Asian Russia). Small populations are also seen in the Romanian Carpathian Mountains range, in the Pyrenees (in France and Spain), in the Cantabrian Mountains of Spain, and in the Alps in Switzerland, Slovenia, Italy, and Austria. The Italian Apennine Mountains and the Balkans in Slovenia and Croatia also have Eurasian brown bear populations.

The Eurasian brown bear range also extends to other countries like Sweden, Finland, Estonia, Norway, Slovakia, North Macedonia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Turkey, Poland, Georgia, Albania, Serbia, Greece, Montenegro, and Ukraine.

And in Asia, small and isolated Eurasian brown bear populations are seen in Iran, Pakistan, Afghanistan, northwestern India, central China, and the Hokkaido island in Japan.

What is a Eurasian brown bear's habitat?

Within the Eurasian brown bear habitat range, the most commonly inhabited areas are the wooded mountains. Populations of Eurasian brown bears are also seen in a range of extensive forests, and in rocky and steep-sloped territories, beech and oak woods. Within a given habitat, these bears tend to live in caves.

Who does Eurasian brown bear live with?

Eurasian brown bears are mostly solitary creatures. They may be seen with their mates and cubs during the breeding season but are alone apart from that.

How long does a Eurasian brown bear live?

A Eurasian brown bear lives for 20-30 years.

How do they reproduce?

The breeding season of Eurasian brown bears goes on from May-July. They become sexually mature when they are three to six years of age. These wild bears are known to go into their winter dens in the months of October-December and they emerge in March-May. Birth is given to two to three cubs in January-March. The litter size may be anywhere between one to four, however. The cubs remain with only their mothers for two or three years and during this period, the mother will not get pregnant again. Mothers are extremely protective of their cubs and will even attack male bears if they get too close.

Also, both males and females are polygamous, meaning they'll mate with many partners in their lifetime. Also, a fertilized ovum stays floating inside the uterus of the female for about five months before attaching itself to the uterine wall when hibernation begins along with the actual pregnancy.

What is their conservation status?

The Eurasian brown bear, being a subspecies of the brown bear, has not been separately evaluated by the IUCN. The brown bear species, however, has been listed as a Least Concern species by the International Union for Conservation of Nature.

What do Eurasian brown bears look like?

The brown fur of the Eurasian brown bears can have different shades like yellowish-brown, reddish-brown, and dark-brown. Some bears look almost completely black and some are albinos, looking almost completely white. The fur can be very dense with the hair growing up to lengths of 3.9 in (10 cm). They have round heads and small rounded ears. The skull is wide and there are 42 teeth in total, including the predatory teeth. The overall bone structure is very powerful with the big paws and claws that grow up to 3.9 in (10 cm) in length. Males are always larger and heavier than females.

How cute are they?

Eurasian brown bears are one of the most cute-looking animals in nature. They are huge, furry, have adorable faces, and look oh so cuddly! They may be the inspiration for the most popular kids' toys, but they can be deadly creatures.

How do they communicate?

Eurasian brown bears communicate mostly through sounds and smell. They moan sometimes when foraging. They are also known to rub and scratch tree barks and other things to mark their territories and status of reproductive status. Their eyesight is rather poor, but their hearing is as good as humans, and their sense of smell is singularly excellent, being able to smell a carcass from longer than 2 mi (3.2 km) away.

How big is a Eurasian brown bear?

Eurasian brown bears are 48-83 in (122-211 cm) tall typically, which makes them two to three times as big as sun bears. The Eurasian brown bear size is known to go up to 98.4 in (2.5 m) as well.

How fast can a Eurasian brown bear move?

Brown bears can move at speeds of 15.7-21.7 mph (25.3-35 kph).

How much does a Eurasian brown bear weigh?

Eurasian brown bears weigh 220.5-783 lb (100-355 kg) but bears as heavy as 1,060 lb (481 kg) have also been found.

What are the male and female names of the species?

The male of the Eurasian brown bear species is called a boar and the female is called a sow.

What would you call a baby Eurasian brown bear?

A baby Eurasian brown bear is called a cub.

What do they eat?

Eurasian brown bears are omnivores and their diet consists of berries, small mammals, fruits, deer, plant roots and shoots, seeds, fish, sheep, carrion, grasses, nuts, chestnuts, beechnuts, acorns, and calves of hoofed animals.

They may themselves get preyed upon by wolves.

Are they poisonous?

No, Eurasian brown bears are not poisonous.

Would they make a good pet?

No, these wild bears have no scope of being adopted as pets.

Did you know...

The frequency of human attacks is almost negligible so they aren't very dangerous unless their cubs are threatened or they are charged by humans. It is Eurasian brown bears who face more threats from humans. They get attracted to areas with human foods like berries, seeds, and grasses, and because of the perceived threat, they may be killed. Their populations have clearly suffered in the last 100 years because of humans.

The Eurasian brown bear vs grizzly bear debate has a few points of discussion. The Eurasian or European brown bear and the grizzly bear are both subspecies of the brown bear (Ursus arctos). The scientific name for the Eurasian brown bear is Ursus arctos arctos and the grizzly bear is a collection of different subspecies with the mainland grizzly bear (Ursus arctos horriblis) being the type subspecies. The grizzly bears are also lighter in color.

The diet of the Eurasian brown bear used to be mostly carnivorous, but with humans settling into wild habitats, it is today increasingly herbivorous.

The oldest fossils of the brown bear that have been identified come from China, dated 0.5 million years old.

The brown bear is most common in North America, Europe, and Asia. The Kodiak brown bear population is supposed to have remained isolated since the last ice age. The brown bear also happens to be the national animal of Finland.

What is special about the Eurasian brown bear?

The Eurasian brown bear has an excellent sense of smell and they are the largest species of predators present on the continent of Europe.

When did the Eurasian brown bear become endangered?

The Eurasian brown bear is not endangered. It is considered a subspecies of the brown bear (Ursus arctos), which itself is a species of Least Concern as per the IUCN and has currently stable populations.

Here at Kidadl, we have carefully created lots of interesting family-friendly animal facts for everyone to discover! For more relatable content, check out these polar bear interesting facts and Qinling panda surprising facts pages.

You can even occupy yourself at home by coloring in one of our free printable Eurasian brown bear coloring pages.