Brown bears are one of the word's most loved - and most fearsome animals. The brown bear is one of 8 different types of bear. Along with the polar bear, it is the largest meat-eating land animals.

Brown Bears are solitary animals but sometimes will gather with others when there is a lot of food. They do not hunt people for food, but they can be very dangerous. They will attack if they feel afraid or if they are used to getting food from people. There are only about 40 bear attacks on people each year.

Brown bears are not endangered. There are around 200,000 left in the world, about 60,000 in North America and about 120,000 in Russia. 

fearsome: frightening

solitary: lives alone

Brown bears have large bodies and thick legs and weigh up to 700lbs (320kg). This makes them extremely strong animals. When standing on four legs, they are as tall as a man, 5-8 feet tall (1.5-2.4m). However, even though they are so large and heavy, they can still run very fast - up to 30 mph (48kmh)! So don't try to outrun a bear! 

Brown bears have massive paws and very long claws that they use to dig up food or kill other animals. Since they are so big, they need to eat a lot. They spend most of their time looking for food.

Brown bears have an excellent sense of smell. It is 7 times stronger than a dog's and 2100 times stronger than ours! This helps them to sniff out food, even if it is very far away or buried underground. A bear can smell food, danger or other bears up to 1.8 miles (3 km) away!

massive: very big

sniff out: smell

Brown bears are omnivores, meaning they eat both plants and animals.

They eat plants, berries, insects, shellfish, fish and small animals such as mice, squirrels or baby deer. They are not fussy eaters! They will eat almost anything. They will also scavenge for food and eat carrion.

Because they hibernate through winter, they eat a lot - up to 90 lbs (40kg)of food each day! They need to get nice and fat because their bodies use the fat instead of food while they are hibernating.  If they eat enough in the summer and autumn, then they can go without food for at least 100 days. Some bears may hibernate for up to 8 months!

scavenge: eat rubbish

carrion: dead animals

hibernate: sleep through the winter

Brown bears have a litter of 1-3 babies (cubs) in the winter. The cubs are born tiny and hairless and weigh less than 0.5 pounds (0.3 kg). That's about the same as a running shoe! 

They spend the winter in their warm den until the spring when they leave their den with their mother to look for food. At that time they weigh about 4-8 pounds. Brown bears drink only their mother's milk for the first few months of life but will continue to drink milk even after they begin eating other things. They will nurse for about 2 years.

Male bears do not help raise the cubs. In fact, they may kill cubs they meet and so mother bears are very protective. If you see a bear cub, stay well away! The mum will be close by and can attack.

Cub stay with their mum for at least two years to learn how to survive.

den: a hidden animal home

nurse: drink mother's milk

protective: will keep safe from danger

survive: continue to live