THE KADIAK BEAR 91 



The Big Brown Bears 



In 1896 the specimens collected by the United States 

 Biological Survey, at Washington, revealed to Dr. C. Hart 

 Merriam the presence in Alaska of two or three species and 

 subspecies of huge brown bears, totally different in character 

 from all the American bears previously known. These bears 

 range from Sitka around to the extremity of the Alaskan 

 Peninsula, Kadiak Island, and on northward to the Kobuk 

 River, only 300 miles from Point Barrow. They are marked 

 by their light-brown color, high shoulders, massive heads of 

 great breadth, short, thick claws, and shaggy pelage. In their 

 high shoulders, they resemble grizzly bears, but otherwise 

 differ from them in many ways. Of these bears. Dr. Merriam 

 has published preliminary descriptions of four new species 

 and one subspecies, but additional collections and informa- 

 tion may possibly result in the consolidation of some of these. 



It is sufficient for our purpose to set forth only the species 

 which seems most sharply defined, and which may be con- 

 sidered representative of the whole group. 



The Kadiak Bear,^ of Kadiak Island, and probably also 

 of the Alaskan Peninsula and the mainland for some distance 

 eastward, is not only the largest of all hving bears, but also 

 the largest carnivorous animal in the world. Several skins 

 of immense size, and skulls 21 inches in length, have been 

 collected. The largest specimen ever killed and measured 

 by a naturalist was a female killed at Chinitna Bay, by Mr. 

 James H. Kidder, which had a shoulder height of 51 inches. 



' Vr'sus mid'den-dorf-fi. 



