Joel D | Weekend Jam Bear / Lion Question Solved

The Alaskan brown bear is the largest predator living on land.

It is larger than the African lion or Bengal tiger.

It is not named Smokey or Pooh,

nor does it live a happy-go-lucky life at Disneyland playing the banjo.

The male bear, called a boar, can weigh a thousand pounds,

yet slip through the wilderness in absolute silence.

The bear appears fat with its barrel-shaped body,

but it can accelerate faster than a thoroughbred racehorse

to chase down a running deer.

Its claws reach a length of six inches and are sharp as plank spikes.

Its jaws can crush a moose's spine or rip a car door from its hinges.

When the brown bear charges, it does not lumber forward on its hind legs as portrayed in movies.

It crouches low to the ground with its head down,

lips pulled high in a snarl as it powers forward with the speed of an attacking lion.

It kills by crushing the neck or biting through the brain case.

If you protect your neck and head, the bear will strip the flesh from your back and legs

even as you scream, swallowing whole chunks without chewing until it reaches your entrails.

The ancient Romans staged fights in their blood pits between Ural mountain grizzly bears

and African lions.

The Romans would set two lions against a single bear.

The bear usually won.

Like the great white shark that glides without fear through the depths, the brown bear has

no peer on land.