Certificate - Etheses - Saurashtra University

Brown bears were found tetrapedal, with legs of approximately equal length, tapering
to large pentigrade feet (Craighead and Mitchell, 1982). Each foot had 5 toes ending
with a relatively long claw. Fore-claws were found much larger than black or polar
bears. Claws of Ursus arctos evolved as tools for digging (Herrero, 1972) rather than
tree climbing or capturing and holding prey as in Ursus maritimus. They were found
to move with a heavy shuffling gait (Pasitschniak-Art, 1993). Features that
distinguished the species included a large hump of muscle overlying the scapulae,
characteristic skull and dental structure, and in some individuals, color and
appearance of the pelage (Craighead and Mitchell, 1982). Size varied greatly among
sex and age classes of bears, and seasonally. Brown bears were found sexually
dimorphic, with males about 1.2 to 2.2 times larger than females (LeFranc et al.,
1987; Stringham, 1990 and Hilderbrand et al., 1999a). Dimorphism developed early
in life and was apparent between ages 2 and 4 years (Troyer and Hensel, 1969;
Pearson, 1975 and Blanchard, 1987).
2.3 Hibernation
Body temperature in the brown bear was found to range from 36.5º to 38.5º C when
active, but declined to 4º to 5º C during hibernation (Irving and Krog, 1954; Folk et
al., 1968, 1972, 1976; Nelson, 1973; Folkman et al., 1979 and LeFranc et al., 1987).
Bears were found to exhibit continuous dormancy for up to 7 months without eating,
drinking, defecating or urinating (Craighead and Craighead, 1972 and Folk et al.,
1972). However, other did not consider winter denning in the bear to deep hibernation
because body temperature did not go below 15º C (Watts et al., 1981; Lyman et al.,
1982 and Pasitschniak-Arts, 1993). Body mass was found dynamic in brown bears.
13