The Largest Carnivore?
By Jack L. McSherry, III
There has been long standing controversy over which bear
is the largest carnivore. Although, this would appear to be an easy
question, it is not.
The Polar bear is the largest in speicies. The male stands
about 4 feet high at the shoulder, and about 8 feet long, with an average
weight of about 1000 pounds. Some have been recorded to be as large as
1600 pounds.
The Grizzly bear stands about 3 1/2 feet high at the shoulder
and 6 to 71/2 feet long, with an average weight of about 800 pounds. However,
the Alaskan Brown bear, particularly those known as the Kodiaks,
are found to be, 4 1/2 feet high at the shoulder, and 8-9 feet in length,
with an average weight of 800 and 1200 pounds. Some have been found to
weigh as much as 1500 pounds.
The Grizzly, as a species, has a larger head than the Polar
bear.
"Largest" Kodiak Bear
source: Rue III, Leonard Lee. Sportsman's Guid to Game Animals, New York,
London:
Harper & Row, 1968, 39, 53, 69
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