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THE NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC MAGAZINE 



The front claws are thicker, shorter, and 

 more abruptly curved than in grizzlies. 



Owing to their great size, the brown 

 bears are doubtless more powerful than 

 the grizzlies, but they have the reputa- 

 tion of being more peaceable. As a rule, 

 like other wild animals, they give man 

 a wide berth, but in close quarters or 

 under unusual circumstances they have 

 been known to seriously injure or kill 

 human beings. Like most other bears, 

 these huge beasts avail themselves of 

 everything the country affords in the 

 way of food, including fish, flesh, fruit, 

 roots, and grass — a variety of diet 

 scarcely exceeded by that of the natives 

 when under aboriginal conditions. On 

 coming out from hibernation in the 

 spring they eat young grass, herbage, 

 and roots, and, if near the coast, a little 

 kelp. Later they capture mice and 

 ground squirrels, and when midsummer 

 and the salmon come they make fishing 

 their chief business. In the fall they 

 fatten on berries. 



The brown bears of Alaska will doubt- 

 less become very rare or extinct at no 

 very distant date. Already they have be- 

 come scarce on Kadiak Island, where 

 formerly very abundant, and on the 

 Alaska Peninsula, though still fairly 

 numerous, they are being killed at a rate 

 probably greatly in excess of their in- 

 crease. 



The grizzly bears of Alaska belong to 

 at least two varieties, one ( Ursus horri- 

 .hilis phceonyx) of the interior, the other 

 {Ursus kenaiensis) of the Kenai Penin- 

 sula and adjacent coast region. Their 

 habits are similar to those of the well- 

 known grizzlies formerly so common in 

 the western United States. In summer 

 they are frequently found above and 

 near timber-line, but they roam widely. 

 At present they are perhaps most numer- 



ous in the Endicott Mountains and the 

 Nutzotin and Alaskan Mountains, in- 

 cluding the region of Mount McKinley. 



Black bears are fairly common 

 throughout all Alaska south and east of 

 the treeless tundra. They are among the 

 shyest of animals, and many doubtless 

 slip away without allowing themselves to 

 "be seen. Thus in many districts where 

 fairly common they are supposed to be 

 scarce. The cinnamon variety is com- 

 mon in the interior, but rare or almost 

 unknown on the coast. 



Belonging with the black-bear group 

 is the rare and interesting glacier bear 

 ( Ursus emmonsi) , inhabiting the south- 

 ern slopes of the Saint Elias Range and 

 near-by mountains, at least from Cross 

 Sound to the vicinity of Cape Saint 

 Elias. It is supposed to live near the 

 numerous glaciers of this region, but its 

 habits are practically unknown and 

 scarcely a dozen specimens, mostly im- 

 perfect,' are contained in the museums of 

 the world. The glacier bear is similar in 

 size and general characters to the black 

 bear, differing mainly in its color, which 

 is silvery gray slightly mixed with black, 

 the nose being brown and the feet black- 

 ish. In certain conditions of pelage the 

 color has a somewhat slaty or bluish gray 

 effect, from which the animal is some- 

 times called the "blue bear." 



The well-known polar bear, which is 

 no less common near the northern coast 

 of Alaska than elsewhere in similar lati- 

 tudes, completes the list of Alaska's 

 bears. Owing to the remoteness of its 

 habitat, it is seldom seen except by whal- 

 ing or exploring parties. Almost em- 

 blematic of the territory under the false 

 ideas at one time prevailing, this bear 

 is now, in any consideration of Alaska's 

 large animals, the one least to be thought 

 of as characteristic of the countrv. 



