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Kodiak brown bears have excellent hearing and sense of smell.

photo by Philip DeManczuk

The Kodiak brown bear, a unique subspecies of the brown or grizzly bear, is the largest bear in the world. With a lifespan of around 20 years, male Kodiak bears, called boars, grow to be about 5 feet tall and weigh around 1,000 pounds while mature females, called sows, usually reach a height of 3 feet and a weight of 500 to 700 pounds. Kodiak brown bears are extremely strong, have excellent hearing and sense of smell, and can distinguish color and activity at all levels of light. They use their five-inch fore claws for digging and in confrontations.

Often touted as the world’s largest meat-eater, this bear is an omnivore, eating grass, plants and berries as well as meat. Fish are essential to the bear’s diet and bears become expert fishers, but few Kodiak brown bears are willing to expend the time or energy necessary to chase and kill mammals.

The flesh, eggs and brains of salmon provide Kodiak bears with vital nourishment. Bears maximize weight gain by consuming the most nutritious parts of their food resources. They eat grass when it is growing rapidly during the spring and early summer and large quantities of berries when they are ripe in the fall.

Kodiak brown bears usually return to the same fishing spot year after year.	Salmon are a highly nutritious food source for Kodiak brown bears.
photo by Philip DeManczuk	photo by Philip DeManczuk

During the late fall and winter, Kodiak brown bears go into hibernation and do not eat, urinate or defecate. The bears begin entering their dens in late October, the pregnant sows first and the males last, although some males forego denning and stay awake all winter. Unlike other hibernating mammals such as squirrels or bats, the hibernating bear maintains a high metabolic rate and nearly normal body temperature; it may even awaken during a warm period and move about outside the den.

Kodiak brown bears become expert fishers.

photo by Philip DeManczuk

Denning physiology of the Kodiak brown bear has been of great interest to humans, especially scientists and space researchers. These professionals are working on figuring out how bears can sleep for up to 8 months without eating, drinking, urinating or defecating and yet retain bone mass and muscle tone. Understanding the denning physiology of the bear could benefit bedridden medical patients and help prepare astronauts for extended space flights.

Kodiak bear cubs remain with their mother for up to three years.

photo by Philip DeManczuk

Although the Kodiak brown bear population is stable, the reproductive rates of this bear concern biologists. Females reach sexual maturity at 5 to 6 years of age. Since Kodiak brown bear cubs remain with their mother for up to 3 years, sows breed only every 3 or 4 years. Cubs are born in litters of 1 to 3 in late January or early February after a gestation period of approximately 7 months. Sometimes Kodiak sows will "adopt" a cub whose mother was killed by males or is just uninterested in caring for her offspring. Sows have been observed with 5 or 6 cubs in tow for 3 years!

Kodiak brown bears and cattle ranchers have been at odds for the past 200 years. As early as the 1930’s, biologists and ranchers were exploring ways to reduce the number of cattle killed by bears, often shooting bears from airplanes. A proposal for a 9-foot high fence that would bisect Kodiak Island and create a "bear-free zone" was among the last efforts to control the bear population, with bear-control attempts ending completely in the mid-1960’s.

The Kodiak brown bear's only habitat is the Kodiak Archipelago.

photo by Philip DeManczuk

The Kodiak National Wildlife Refuge was created in 1941 when sportsmen expressed their concern over reduced bear populations and petitioned the Federal government to protect the bears and their habitat on Kodiak Island. Today, 3,000 Kodiak brown bears live exclusively on the islands in the Kodiak Archipelago and are protected on the Kodiak National Wildlife Refuge.