East Siberian brown bear

The East Siberian brown bear (Ursus arctos collaris) is a population or subspecies of brown bear which ranges from eastern Siberia, beginning at the Yenisei river, north to the Arctic Circle, as far as Trans-Baikaliya, the Stanovoy Range, the Lena River, Kolyma and generally throughout Yakutia and the Altai Mountains. The subspecies is also present in northern Mongolia.[1]

East Siberian brown bear
Russian: Восто́чно-Сиби́рский бурый медведь
Brown bear with slaty-backed gulls at Magadan Nature Reserve, Russia
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Order: Carnivora
Family: Ursidae
Genus: Ursus
Species:
U. arctos
Subspecies:
U. a. collaris
Trinomial name
Ursus arctos collaris
F. G. Cuvier, 1824
Synonyms

jeniseensis Ognev, 1924
sibiricus J. E. Gray, 1864

Size

East Siberian bears are intermediate in size to Eurasian brown bears and Kamchatka brown bears, though large individuals can attain the size of the latter. Their skulls are invariably larger than those of Eurasian brown bears and are apparently larger than those of Kamchatka brown bears.[1] Adult males have skulls measuring 32.6–43.1 cm (12.8–17.0 in) in length, and 31.2–38.5 cm (12.3–15.2 in) wide at the zygomatic arches. They have long, dense and soft fur which is similar in colour to that of Eurasian brown bears, though darker coloured individuals predominate.

Taxonomic history

Originally, Cuvier's trinomial definition for this subspecies was limited to brown bear populations in the upper Yenisei river, in response to bears there sporting well-developed white collars. The subspecies has since been reclassified as encompassing populations formerly classed as jeniseensis and sibiricus, though the latter two lack the collar.[1]

Behaviour and ecology
Bear at a campsite in the Sakha Republic

Siberian bears tend to be much bolder toward humans than their shyer, more persecuted European counterparts. Siberian bears regularly destroy hunters' storages and huts where there is food.[2] They are also more carnivorous than their European counterparts and do not seem to like honey. They hunt mountain hares and ungulates such as reindeer, wapiti or moose by ambushing them from pine trees.[3]

References
  1. V. G. Heptner; N. P. Naumov, eds. (1998). Mlekopitajuščie Sovetskogo Soiuza. Moskva: Vysšaia Škola [Mammals of the Soviet Union, Volume II, Part 1a, Sirenia and Carnivora (Sea cows; Wolves and Bears)]. II, Part 1a. Washington, D.C., USA: Science Publishers, Inc. ISBN 1-886106-81-9.
  2. WOLVES, BEARS AND HUMAN ANTI-PREDATOR ADAPTATIONS
  3. The Leisure hour, Volume 4. Publisher s.n., 1855. Original from the New York Public Library
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