I wouldn't bet the farm on this....but I remember reading this fact somewhere.

Polar Bears are the largest bear on the average. Meaning the average weight of recorded adults. But the largest, and heaviest, single bear on record was a Brown Bear!

AK is right. I did another search and as a species the polar bear is the largest. However on occassion the Brown Bear can get as big or a little bigger. Either is to big to hunt with a jack knife.

Actually Coastie gets the credit for this one. (Don't ask me how I missed his post my first time down this thread....but there it is!)

I know when you enter Anchorage International Airport there is a mounted example of a Brown Bear. I do not remember specific facts, (please anyone currently in AK help on this one), but it is one of the larger members of the species. It is probably a third to half again larger than most of the specimens I've seen anywhere else.

I know this is a little off topic but for anyone that has seen the largest known individual African Elephant which is mounted on display at the Smithsonian in Washington D.C. knows about the size differential I'm speaking. Just as the elephant in the Smithsonian is to other members of the species....so is the Brown Bear in Anchorage Airport to other members I've seen!

I think what he originally asked was not what is the largest predator but which is bigger polar or kodiak?
- from what i understand is that on average the polar bear is larger, but the largest bear on record actually is a Kamchatka bruin.

This may not be realted to the actual question, but for black bears, I would have to say that this beast is one that stands out amongst most blacks...it was taken close to my place up in the far northern reaches of Wisconsin this past fall. Live weight was 688#....

That picture does not do a 688# Bear proper justice.

You are right. That is a very bad picture to represent such a large black bear. I wonder what he measured skull and length? My dad shot a 7'4" monster near Prince of Whales Island AK that he never had weight. That boy made me very scared of black bears once he brought it home!!!

I can tell the previous posters are knowledgeable about the differences between a brown (coastal) and a grizzly bear (interior). Grizzlies are little balls of fur (slight exaggeration) compared to those Kodiak monsters!!!

Very interesting post in that the average goes to a polar but the record goes to a brown.

Come to PA, 3 bears over 800 lbs were shot! The biggest was 864 lbs, haven't found any pics yet[&:]

I'll give you the weight but what did they measure in length and skull size and were they even entered into B&C?

http://www.huntingpa.com/ubbthreads/...b=5&o=&fpart=1

This link shows the 864 pounder in 1997 when it was "only" 716lbs. It isn't dead in the pic of course. It was trapped and tagged by the Game Commission at the time of the pic.