What is the difference between a grizzly bear and a brown bear?
Grizzly and brown bears are both mammals that display dynamic behaviors that inspire people to look at them with a lot of questions in their minds. They are from the same species.
These make people use their names interchangeably as they are not able to tell which one is a grizzly bear and which one is the brown bear.
The main difference between a grizzly bears and brown bears is where they live and what they eat.
Comparison Table (Grizzly Bear Vs Brown Bear)
| Characteristics | Grizzly bear | Brown bear |
| Habitats | They live in dense forests, alpine meadows, and mountain valleys. | They live along the show line. |
| What they feed on | They feed on grass, glacier lilies, whitebark peanuts, biscuit roots, horsetails, worms, moths, ants and they are also scavengers. | Vegetation takes a small part of their diet; they have a salmon fatty rich diet. |
| Appearance | They have grizzled blonde fur that grows along their shoulders and back. | They have a slight hump above their shoulders. |
| Size | They are comparatively smaller in body size. | They are larger in body size. |
| Temperament | They react more aggressively to other bears and humans. | They are less aggressive towards other bears and humans. |
What Is A Grizzly Bear?
Grizzly bears are subspecies of brown bears. They are found in dense forests, alpine meadows, and mountain valleys.
It takes its name from the grizzled blonde that grows along their shoulders and backs. This makes it appear different from the brown bear.
They mostly feed on vegetation. They feed on grass, from the streams they get worms, they also feed on moths and ants. Sometimes they become scavengers and feed on carcasses of wolves and other animals.
As they compete for food among others and the food is more of vegetation, they tend to be more aggressive towards other bears and humans.
The females do not reproduce up to the time they turn 4 or 5 years. They mate between May and July but the body of the female’s delays in implantation up to October. After birth, the females rear the cubs up to 2 or 3 years. The male does not participate in raising the cubs.
What Is A Brown Bear?
Brown bears live along the shorelines. The biggest ones are found in the Alaska Peninsula. The term is commonly used in Alaska for the bears found along the shoreline.
They feed on fatty salmon in summer, sedge grass, and other local foodstuffs they can find. The diet is of little vegetation.
They have plenty supply of food and this makes them grow big in body size than the grizzly bears. They appear to be fattier and happier. This contributes to their temperament whereby they are less aggressive towards the other bears and humans.
Their appearance is different from the grizzly bear as they possess humps above their shoulders.
The male fights over the female during mating and they guard them for about 1 to 3 weeks. The mating takes place between May and July but the young ones start developing in females’ uterus during winter. They give birth during winter and the female takes care of the cubs until they grow.
Main Differences Between A Grizzly Bear and A Brown Bear
- Grizzly bears lives in dense forests, alpine meadows, and mountain valleys while the brown bear lives along the shoreline.
- Grizzly bear feeds mostly on vegetation while the brown bear feeds on fatty salmon.
- Grizzly bear fights for food among themselves while brown bears have plenty of food hence, they do not fight over food.
- The grizzly bear is more aggressive while the brown bear is less aggressive.
- The grizzly bear has blonde color along its shoulders and back while the brown bear has a slight hump above its shoulders.
Similarities Between A Grizzly Bear and A Brown Bear
- They are both mammals.
- They belong to the same species.
- Both reproduce in the same way.
- In both cases, males do not take care of the young ones.
In Conclusion
Grizzly bears and brown bears come from the same species. It is difficult to identify them but on a keen look, you may notice the difference.
Grizzly bears have grizzled blonde that runs along their shoulders and backs and this where they get their name grizzly. The brown bears have a slight hump above their back.
The main feature that makes grizzly bears be different from brown bears is what they feed on and where they live.
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