568 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1917. 



living species and appear to be intimately related to the brown 

 bears of eastern Asia and to the extinct cave bears of Europe. Sev- 

 eral species of the great Alaskan brown bears are shown in the 

 park. One kept for several years weighed at one time 1,160 pounds. 



There are splendid examples of the Kodiak bear (Ursus midden- 

 dorffi) ; the Peninsula bear (U. gyas) ; the Yakutat bear (U. dalli), 

 and Kidder's bear (U. kidderi) of Cook Inlet. 



The grizzly bear (Ursus horribUis) is perhaps the most celebrated 

 of all the bears and has the greatest reputation for strength and 

 ferocity. In the early days of the AVest the grizzly was very plenti- 

 ful, and no story of adventure in that region was complete unless 

 it introduced the "silver tip" at some point in the tale. Nowadays 

 grizzly bears are rare or completely exterminated over most of their 

 former range in the United States, but are still found plentifully 

 in the Yellowstone National Park, from which place most of our 

 specimens come. In the Rocky Mountains of Canada, and particu- 

 ularly in British Columbia, grizzly bears are commonly found. 

 Numerous species and subspecies of grizzlies are now recognized. 



The common black bear of North America (Ursus americanus) 

 has a very extensive distribution from Alaska to Florida; a num- 

 ber of geographical races are recognized within this area. This 

 animal has persistently held its own in some of the more settled 

 States, and, like the white-tailed deer, with proper protection is in 

 little danger of extermination. The cinnamon bear, a color phase 

 of the black bear, is of most frequent occurrence in certain parts of 

 the West where a geographical race of the common bear is recognized 

 as Ursus americanus chmamomum. A fine pair captured in the 

 Yellowstone National Park is exhibited. Their mother, which was 

 received with them, was black. 



One of the rarest of all the bears is the glacier bear, or blue bear 

 (Ursus emmonsii) of the Mount St. Elias Alps, Alaska. It is some- 

 what smaller than the geographical race of the common black bear 

 found in the same general region (Ursus americanus perniger) and 

 has a beautiful coat of a blue-gray color. The first living specimen of 

 this interesting American mammal ever exhibited in any zoological 

 garden was received at the National Zoological Park in 1917 as a gift 

 from Mr. Victor J. Evans, of Washington, District of Columbia, who 

 secured it from a resident of Yakutat, Alaska. It was captured as a 

 small cub by Indians about the middle of May, 1916, at the head of 

 Disenchantment Bay. The only specimens ever received before this 

 time were a few skins, mostly obtained by fur traders, and several 

 skulls which have found their way into museums. 



The Japanese bear (Ursus japonicus) ; the Himalayan bear (U. 

 thibetanus) ; and the sloth bear (Melursus ursinus) are among the 

 foreign bears exhibited. 



