Diet

The bear is a typical omnivore, consuming mostly plant foods such as berries, grains, nuts and acorns during the feeding season, especially in summer and autumn. Insects, mainly Hymenoptera order’s members (such as sawflies, wasps, ants, bees), play an important role in the bear’s diet, especially in spring, and are obtained by digging up the down of rusty ants and by sniffing out the nests of bumblebees and wasps. At the same time, a full-grown bear can also be a successful hunter, able to hunt even young fawns. Despite their reputation, most brown bears are not highly carnivorous, as they derive up to 90% of their dietary food energy from vegetable matter. When forced to live in close proximity with humans and their domesticated animals, bears may potentially predate any type of domestic animal. Among these, domestic cattle are sometimes exploited as prey. Cattle are bitten on the neck, back or head and then the abdominal cavity is opened for eating. Plants and fruit farmed by humans are readily consumed as well, including corn, wheat, and any form of berries. They will also feed at domestic bee yards, readily consuming both honey and the brood (grubs and pupae) of the honey bee colony. Human foods and trash or refuse is eaten when possible.

Habitat

At the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries, as a result of the clearing of large forest areas and hunting, the brown bear became extinct in Latvia. It occasionally enters Latvia, where the borders of Latvia, Estonia and Russia meet. Since the 1970s, the bear has been regularly found in Latvia again. However, the number of bears in Latvia is fluctuating.

Important and interesting facts

Despite its massive stature, it is a good runner, with a recorded running speed of 64 km/h. It is able to stand and walk on its hindlegs, thus visually enlarging itself. It is a good swimmer and loves to bathe in water.

The brown bear is essentially nocturnal.

During the summer, it accumulates up to 180 kg of subcutaneous fat, which is used for hibernation. Brown bears can be easily roused from hibernation, because it is not deep. For hibernation, bears choose a den, a hollow under branches or rocks, or a tree cavity.

Brown bears have one of the largest brains of any extant carnivoran relative to their body size and have been shown to engage in tool use (e.g., using a barnacle-covered rock to scratch its neck), which requires advanced cognitive abilities.

Information sources: latvijasdaba.lv, Wikipedia

Photo: redzet.eu