Grizzly bears
Images copyright by Mark A. Chappell
Despite the wide variety of names they've been given -- grizzly, brown bear, Kodiak bear -- North American grizzly bears are all the same species: Ursus arctos (the same as the Eurasian brown bear found from Europe east to Siberia). They vary considerably in size (mainly due to dietary differences) and coloration. These grizzlies, photographed in Denali Park, Alaska, are the small 'interior' version which reaches perhaps 220 kg (500 pounds) in males. The much bigger coastal or 'Kodiak' bears reach 700+ kg, presumably because they have access to rich salmon runs that are not available to inland grizzlies. The dark adult shown immediately below is a male; the very 'blonde' bear two rows down is an adult female. As the two photos at the bottom of the page show, even a grizzly can look pretty small against the scale of Denali Park.
