Brown Bear

Japan's brown bear is the Ezo brown bear of Hokkaido, the country's largest living land animal. Adult males commonly exceed 2m in length and weigh around 200kg, though an exceptional 480kg individual has been recorded. The heavy body, dished face, small rounded ears and prominent shoulder hump separate it from the smaller, black-coated Asian black bear of Honshu and Shikoku (Sapporo Maruyama Zoo, Hokkaido brown bear account).

Brown bears occupy Hokkaido's forests and open country and are generally solitary outside mating and mother–cub periods. They eat both plants and animals, including deer and salmon, feed heavily before winter, and den from late autumn until early spring; pregnant females give birth to one to three cubs while denned (Sapporo Maruyama Zoo). The western Ishikari population is classed as a Threatened Local Population (Japan MOE Red List 2020).