The great brown bear of the Alaska peninsula, _Ursus gyas_, and his
cousin, _Ursus middendorffi_, of Kodiac Island, are the largest of all
bears, as well as the largest carnivorous animals in the world. While
sometimes attaining a weight of 1500 pounds, they are, as a rule,
inoffensive giants, taking flight at the first sight of man. But when
wounded, or surprised at close quarters, they give battle, and their
enormous size, strength and activity render them terrific antagonists.
The world did not know of the existence of these bears until 1898.
During the spring the Alaska brown bear lives upon the salmon which
come up the rivers and creeks to spawn, while in the summer and fall
they eat the sedge of the lowland flats, grazing like cattle, and
varying their diet with small mammals and berries which they find in
the hills. The comparatively limited and easily accessible territory in
which they live renders their future precarious unless reasonable means
for their proper protection are continued.]