Pinching grass, looking for ants and picking berries: what brown bears actually eat

Tales of ferocious brown bears awakening after hibernation, and popular science films with scenes of hungry roe deer hunting leave no doubt: brown bears are dangerous predators. A powerful physique, strength and endurance, impressive size claws and teeth - all this eloquently indicates that brown bears were born for hunting. But in fact, the basis of their diet is plant food, and for most of the season they do not pose any threat to their neighbors.

Brown bears, and there are more than 10 subspecies of them on our planet, live in various regions of the northern hemisphere, in Eurasia and North America. This species belongs to the genus of bears, the order of carnivores. Despite their belonging to this order, brown bears mainly eat plant foods, which, according to scientists, make up about ¾ of their diet.

Brown bears live in mixed and taiga forests, enter the forest-tundra and tundra. Sometimes they make seasonal migrations in search of food.

So, the bear that woke up in the spring is very hungry: after prolonged hibernation, it needs intensive nutrition. But in April-May there is still very little plant food, so during this period it eats like a real predator: preys on ungulate inhabitants of the forest, but does not disdain with smaller prey.

But with the onset of warmth and the emergence of plant foods, brown bears gradually switch to a vegetarian diet. They are happy to eat young green shoots, grass, roots and tubers that can be obtained. Although animal food, rich in protein, is still present, but it is mainly larvae, ants, caterpillars, worms, small reptiles, the bear and carrion do not disdain.

In late summer and early autumn, bears have a real feast of the stomach. A variety of nuts and berries, for which bears often go out of the woods to the open tundra expanses, are useful and very high-calorie foods that contribute to the accumulation of fat deposits in the winter. Raspberries, lingonberries, cranberries, strawberries, blueberries, cloudberries, rose hips, mountain ash and hawthorn are just an incomplete list of those berries that brown bears love. In addition, they catch fish, which is especially characteristic of the inhabitants of Kamchatka and Alaska, where salmon species of fish that are found in large numbers for spawning are found.

It is worth mentioning about honey, which is a favorite treat of brown bears. In the habitats of wild bees, sweet-tooth bears often ruin the hives, taking advantage of the fact that thick wool protects them from the bites of angry insects. In addition, brown bears can look at apiaries, doing a lot of trouble there.