The cave bear, Ursus spelaeus, represents one of the most frequently found paleontological remains from the Pleistocene in Europe. The species has always been confined to Europe and was contemporary with the brown bear, Ursus arctos. Relationships between the cave bear and the two lineages of brown bears defined in Europe, as well as the origins of the two species, remain controversial, mainly ...

The recovery and conservation of large carnivores can negatively impact the economy traditional pastoralist societies, including indigenous reindeer ( Rangifer tarandus ) herding communities. Quantifying magnitude predation on livestock is critical to evaluating governmental carnivore compensation schemes. We collaborated with two Sámi communities in northern Sweden (2010–2012) examine brown be...

Brooks River in Katmai National Park is one o f the most famous bear-viewing areas in the world. The close proximity of brown bears and humans at Brooks River poses a question vital to the management of these bears: do ongoing human activities at Brooks River induce stress in brown bears that rely on this fishing area for much of their nutritional intake? Fecal monitoring of glucocorticoids is ...

The peculiarity of bears behavior of stripping of bark is typical for all species. We have described the damage to trees, by Asiatic black bear (Ursus thibetanus) and brown bear (U. arctos) in Primorsky Krai and by brown bears on the Sakhalin Island during 1998-2015. In this study, we studied the damaged bark of the tree only in cases where it was clear that part of the cambium was eaten by bea...

BACKGROUND Information on hemostasis and platelet function in brown bear (Ursus arctos) is of importance for understanding the physiological, protective changes during hibernation. OBJECTIVE The study objective was to document platelet activity values in brown bears shortly after leaving the den and compare them to platelet function in healthy humans. METHODS Blood was drawn from immobilize...

The total number of brown bears (Ursus arctos) in Europe is presently about 50,000 (about 14,000 outside Russia), within an area of more than 2.5 million km (800,000 km outside Russia). About 37,500 bears are found in the northeastern European population; 8,100 in the Carpathian Mountains; 2,800 in the Alps–Dinaric–Pindos; 1,000 in Scandinavia; 520 in the Rila–Rhodope Mountains; 200 in the Star...