Eurasian brown bear

유라시아불곰

The king of Europe's forests, it fattens up in autumn and sleeps through the winter in a den. Big males can top 200 kg, and as an omnivore it eats berries, fish, insects and roots, whatever the Karelian forest offers.

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At a glance

Class: Mammals
Lives in: Karelia, Russia
Diet: Eats both plants and meat (omnivore)
Top speed: about 56 km/h
Lifespan: up to about 30 years
Conservation status: Least Concern (IUCN LC)
Habitat: forests, mountains

Quick answers

Where does the Eurasian brown bear live?

It lives in forests, mountains. On the globe you can find it near Karelia, Russia.

What does the Eurasian brown bear eat?

Its diet: eats both plants and meat (omnivore).

How fast is the Eurasian brown bear?

It can reach about 56 km/h.

How long does the Eurasian brown bear live?

It can live up to about 30 years.

Is the Eurasian brown bear endangered?

It is listed as Least Concern (IUCN LC).

The Eurasian brown bear is one of the most common subspecies of the brown bear and lives across much of Eurasia. Its fur ranges from yellowish-brown to dark brown, red-brown or almost black. It has a round head, small round ears and big paws with claws up to 10 cm long.

A big male weighs on average between 350 and 500 kg and can reach 2.5 metres long. Females are usually 150 to 300 kg. They live 20 to 30 years in the wild, and the brown bear is the national animal of Finland. Despite their size, brown bears are shy, and most of the year they are more interested in berries and roots than in people.

What does it eat?

Today the bear's diet is mostly plants, and meat makes up only about 10 to 15 percent of what it eats. In ancient times the bears were largely carnivorous, with about 80 percent of the diet coming from animals, but as their habitat shrank the share of meat fell.

In autumn bears fatten up, then sleep through the winter in a den.

Bears and people

In ancient Rome, brown bears were used in arena fights, and the strongest were said to come from Caledonia and Dalmatia. The animal was named Ursus arctos arctos by Linnaeus in 1758.

Scandinavia has recorded only three fatal bear attacks in the last century, so bears usually avoid people. Because they are good at finding food in many habitats, bears have also lived in mountains and forests across Asia.