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THE LARGEST CARNIVOROUS ANIMAL EXTANT

THE ALASKA BROWN BEAR

The great brown bear of the Alaska peninsula, Ursus gyas, and his cousin, Ursus middendorffi, of Kodiac Island, are the largest of all bears, as well as the largest carnivorous animals in the world. While sometimes attaining a weight of 1500 pounds, they are, as a rule, inoffensive giants, taking flight at the first sight of man. But when wounded, or surprised at close quarters, they give battle, and their enormous size, strength and activity render them terrific antagonists. The world did not know of the existence of these bears until 1898. During the spring the Alaska brown bear lives upon the salmon which come up the rivers and creeks to spawn, while in the summer and fall they eat the sedge of the lowland flats, grazing like cattle, and varying their diet with small mammals and berries which they find in the hills. The comparatively limited and easily accessible territory in which they live renders their future precarious unless reasonable means for their proper protection are continued.