Nature can be so magnificent, beautiful, and scary all at once. Polar bears will be somewhere at the top of your list when talking about dangerous aspects of nature. Bears are always thought of as big aggressive animals.
You would be surprised to know that bears come in a wide range of species that vary in size. Bears have an almost similar general size, but some species are on the extremes, either small or huge. Let us get into the details and see how this compares;
Bear Size Comparison
When looking at the sizes of bears, we consider the height and weight of a full-grown animal. For humans, an average is 198 pounds and 69.1 inches for a healthy 20-year-old. Bears come in a lot of species, and some of them have gone extinct.
Let us look at all these bears and get a detailed comparison of their sizes. This will make them easier to identify in the wild, and even if they are extinct, a little information is good for you. Let us get into the details.
Arctotherium angustidens
This is an extinct bear species that had a height of 180cm and weighed 1750kg. This was a giant bear that stood almost as tall as a full-grown man. It took after a panda in appearance, with white and black fur on its body.
Ursavus brevirhinus
This is another extinct bear that had blackish brown fur. It was on the small side with a height of 55cm and weighing around 60kg, making it smaller than most humans.
Kretzoiarctos beatrix
This is another small bear that had black and white fur but is now extinct. This bear had a height of between 50cm and 70cm and weighed between 40 and 60kg.
Agritheriun africanum
his African bear went extinct, but it had a height of 165cm and weighed between 600kg and 900kg.
Arctodus simus
This is an extinct bear that had dark brown fur. It has a height of between 150cm and 180cm with a weight ranging from 900kg to 1200kg, making it one of the largest bears.
Arctotherium angustidens
This black bear went extinct, but it was the largest bear. It has a height of 180 cm and an average weight of 1750kg.
Atlas Bear
This is an extinct bear that had brown fur. It had a height of 120cm and weight about 450kg.
Tremarctos floridanus
This black bear is extinct, but it had a height of between 100 and 120cms, which puts it on the large side. In addition, it weighed anything between 150 and 300kg in adulthood.
Indarctos oregonensis
This is a black-furred bear that went extinct. It weighed between 350 and 400kg with a height of 130cm.
Indarctos arctoides
This bear had black fur and a height of 130cm at maturity. It weighed between 70 and 320kg.
Steppe Brown Bear
This extinct bear had brown fur and a height of between 140 and 160cm. This size gave it a weight of between 350kg and 1 ton.
Kretzoiarctos beatrix
This is the last extinct bear on our list, and it had the characteristic black-brown fur of bears. It weighed between 60kg and 80kg and had a height of 70cm.
Sun Bear
This is an extant bear with black fur on its body with a white patch on its face. This bear species varies significantly in weight from 25kg to 65kg, depending on the environment. It has a height of 70cm.
Formosan Black bear
The Formosan is an existing bear with black fur, and it weighs between 50kg and 200kg. This difference is because of a wide range of environments these bears live in, but they all get a full-grown height of 70cm.
Syrian Brown Bear
As the name suggests, this is a bear found in Syria and those with similar climates. It has brown fur, a height of between 70cm and 80cm, and a weight of between 150kg to 250kg.
Giant Panda
The Giant panda is a bear species with the distinguishing black and white color pattern seen in pandas. It has a height of between 60cm and 90cm and weighs between 95kgs and 160kg depending on its environment.
Spectacled Bear
This is a black bear with a brown white face. It has a weight of between 100 and 220 kilograms and a height of between 60 and 90cm.
Kermode Spirit bear
This is a bear that closely resembles the polar bear, but it has brown fur on the back of its neck. Its height is between 60 and 90cm and weighs from 80kg to 225kg depending on age, season, and environment.
Cinnamon bear
This bear has thick brownish fur that hangs off it. It has a height of 90cm and can weigh anything from 90kg to 270kg, depending on where the bear lives.
Gobi Bear
This bear is prevalent in the Gobi desert region of Mongolia, and it has brown fur of differing shades. It has a height varying between 80cm and 95cm and a weight ranging between 50 and 120kg.
Sloth Bear
The sloth bear is a black bear with a white face. It has a height of 100cm and can weigh between 90 and 140kg when fully grown.
Asian black bear
This is a black bear that is strictly found on the Asian continent. It has an average height of between 70 and 100cm, with between 60 and 200kg.
American Black Bear
The black bear is one of the most common bear species in the US. It has thick black fur and a height of between 70 and 105cm. It weighs between 90 and 270kgs and is found in most areas of the US.
Tibetan Blue Bear
This bear is black with a white collar on its neck and a brownish face despite the name. It grows to 110cm and weighs between 100 and 200kg depending on genetics, environment, and season.
Mexican Grizzly bear
The Grizzly is another common and large bear species. It has brown fur and a whitish collar. Its height is between 100 and 110cm, which accounts for around 318kg when fully grown.
Kamchatka Brown Bear
This is an extant giant with brown fur. The Kamchatka bear height is 180cm with an astonishing weight of between 650 and 700kg when fully grown.
Kodiak bear
The Kodiak bear is a common brown-furred bear with a height of 150cm and weight between 300 and 700kg.
Eurasian Brown Bear
This bear has fur that is colored black, and other parts are brown. It has a height ranging between 90 and 110cm with a weight between 250 and 481kg.
Grolar Bear
The Grolar is one of the biggest bears with a brownish white fur coat. It has a height between 120 and 150cm and weighs between 300 and 680kgs.
California Grizzly Bear
This brown bear has a length of between 70 and 155 cm and a weight of between 360kg and 907kg. The size varies depending on gender, mostly with males being larger than females.
Polar Bear
The polar bear is one of the best-known bear species, and it has white fur to help it camouflage in its Arctic home.
It has a height of between 122 and 160cm, which makes it taller than most people, and weighs between 350 and 700kg.
Dangers Facing The Bear Population
Looking at the list, you will notice that a large number of bear species have gone extinct. Those that still exist have small and ever-dwindling populations. Without human intervention, these bears will also go extinct.
To save these majestic animals, we need to understand the source of their issues, so let us break this down;
One of the biggest concerns for bear populations is global warming. Global warming has the most significant effect on polar bears.
These predators need the ice caps to hunt for food; global warming is causing these ice caps to melt.
These changes make it hard for the bears to find food, and the population suffers more each year. The increasing temperatures change the ecosystem and migration patterns of bear food, making it harder to thrive.
Bears hibernate, so damaging their food sources is devastating to the population. Aside from this, bears get killed by hunters for their fur, which also ruins the population. Pollution exposes bears to more pathogens than they can handle.
It is the responsibility of every citizen to step up and protect these animals. We need to check our pollution levels and reduce our carbon footprint to give bears and other animals a chance at survival.
Conclusion
There are many bear species on the planet currently, and adding those that went extinct makes this list more impressive. Bears vary in size even in the same species; the difference is primarily due to gender and genetics.
In most species, females are smaller than males, while others have the exact sizes. The bear population is in danger, and it is primarily because of human activity. Global warming is destroying food resources for most animals, including bears.