As US records show, the largest grizzly bear ever recorded was a true behemoth
Yet it doesn’t hold a candle to the brown bear First things first: When talking about records or anything about grizzlies, it’s important to know what makes a grizzly a grizzly as opposed to another brown bear
As Katmai National Park Ranger Cheryl Spencer explains, “All grizzly bears are brown bears
Grizzlies are a small subspecies of the brown bear
The difference is basically where the bear lives” In short, a proper grizzly is a brown bear that lives inland
While brown bears, like the behemoths of Fat Bear Katmai Week, “have access to these coastal resources” All of the above is useful information when looking for records online for the largest grizzly bear ever, because many brown bear records are attributed to grizzly bears when they shouldn’t be
Brown bears tend to be larger than domestic grizzlies, too
You will find grizzlies with records and browns isolated below as a result, each drawn from the only valid documents The Biggest Grizzly Bears Ever Recorded (Ursus arctos horribilis) In in total, there are only six entries in the state of Montana for grizzly bears, as the species has been protected since 1975 (two years after the enactment of the Endangered Species Act)
Regardless, Montana provides an official history of their brown bears, which are actually grizzlies
For these reasons, the state is the most reliable source of record holding grizzly bears Largest grizzly bear ever recorded in Montana: 25 9/16 skull measurement This grizzly was taken from the Missouri River Breaks in 1890 by ES Cameron
This bear skull currently resides in the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History
(source) As the above record shows, grizzly bear records are documented by their skull measurements
While this allows for the evaluation of older studies, it does not provide official measurements for the largest grizzly bears
For this, we look at Montana’s third largest on record, as contenders for second place are contested: Montana’s third largest grizzly bear on record: Lincoln GrizzlyMontana’s “Lincoln Grizzly” is on permanent display at the Lincoln Ranger District office
(source) While tall tales of 1,200 pound grizzly giants persist, the weight of the Lincoln Grizzly represents a more realistic measurement
The brown bear species has reached a very large size, but most are coastal brown bears (which, again, are larger than grizzlies)Alaska Brown Bear Ever Recorded (Ursos arctos middendorffi) When it comes to brown bears in large , the biggest ever recorded comes from Alaska
There, a unique, titanic bear population has grown through 12,000 years of genetic isolation in the state’s Kodiak region and islands
And as the record holder revealed, the brown skull became 5 inches larger than Montana’s largest grizzly log:
Alaska brown bear world record: 30 12/16 skull measurement This brown bear was taken near Kodiak’s Karluk Lake in late May 1952 “The big bear was sold by Roy R
With a skull score of 28 4/16, “its cover is more than nine feet square, and archaeologists in Alaska estimate this gigantic carnage to be over 20 years old,” hunter and archaeologist John McAdams said The Big Game Hunt said The all-time record holder probably stood between 9-and-10-feet on his hind legs in life
That is a true giant, and easily one of the largest bears – brown or grizzly – to ever live For an in-depth look at the difference between grizzlies and browns, see our National Parks Directory : Katmai Ranger Cheryl Spencer Explains the Difference Between Brown and Grizzly Bears next