Kodiak Bear

The Kodiak Bear is a very interesting bear it is the second largest bear in the world but
very closely tied with the Polar bear which is first. All bears walk on four legs and can
stand on two if need be. The Kodiak bear is a subspecies of the Alaskan brown bear
they is a difference between these two bears. The Kodiak bears were separated from
the brown bears because after the ice bridge in Alaska melted brown bears got trapped
on the Kodiak islands and have been there since. First of the size difference. Kodiak
bears have a bigger bone structure and weigh more because they have an abundance
of food on the Kodiak islands. Male Kodiak bears can get up to 1,500 pounds! As
opposed to the brown bear which can only get up to 1,150 pounds. They also have
behavioral differences. Kodiak bears have a better social structures and communication
because they have been living in such a dense area with so many there for so long.
How do these bears adapt to survive in their habitat? First of all these bears have
very sharp claws and teeth for hunting animals. The Kodiak bear also can stand on their
hind legs to see better. They also use their hind legs for their unique complex language.
These bears also have sensitive hearing for hunting prey.
On thing brown and Kodiak bears do alike is hibernate. They store up fat by
eating a lot of food (berries, plants, fruit, grass, roots, fish, squirrels, and hooved
animals) before hand and then go hid in a den during the cold months. Which is from
October until May. These bears maintain homeostasis during these cold months by
lowering their metabolism rate by 75 percent and lowering body temperature. They
lower their body temperature below 90 degrees fahrenheit which the normal is 99
degrees fahrenheit and this causes periodic shivering. They do not eat, drink, urinate, or
defecate for 6 months. Normally humans would lose muscle strength and bone strength
from sitting this long. But bears do not do this, they have the same amount of muscle,
and their bones do not deteriorate when they wake up from hibernation.
Kodiak bears reproduce sexually. The female bears do not reach sexual maturity
until the age of five but most do not start producing offspring until they are about 9. The
mating season occurs May or June. Pregnant sows are the first to hibernate starting in
late October and do not emerge until late June. Cubs stay with their mothers until they
are about three. A female bear reproduces about every four years.
What is the cellular structure of a bear? Bears have many different cellular
structures. These are the main cellular structures muscles, nerves, connective,
epithelial, and organs. The muscle cellular structure of course gives the bear muscles
the moves. The second is the nevers, which gives the bear feeling so that is can react
to stimuli like if it gets cut it would know that. The connective cellular structures is what
makes up the joints in the bear. The epithelia cellular structure is what gives the bear its
outside protecting its skin they have a very heavy coat to protect them from the cold.
Bears bones and organs are also cellular structures.
We have gone over the habitat of the Kodiak bear. How the Kodiak bear
hibernates. We have also gone over how the Kodiak bear reproduces. We also went
over the cellular structure of the bear and the adaptations it has to make to survive in its
environment.