It is a close tie between the Polar bear and the Kodiak bear; a subspecies of brown bear found only in Alaska. The polar bear wins out weighing between 300 and 600 kg and are 2 to 3 meters long. They reside in the Canadian north, Alaska (USA), Greenland, Norway and Russia, and sadly, like many other majestic animals, have an IUCN conservation status of Vulnerable. Their diet consists primarily of Arctic seals, which is why they lose out to the Kodiak bear for largest land based carnivore.

The Kodiak bear resides on the Kodiak archipelago in Alaska. It is technically classified as a subspecies of Brown Bear who have the “horrible” taxonomic name of Ursus arctos horribilis, but in honor of the Russian who discovered this unique subspecies, the Kodiak bear has a much more respectable taxonomic label: Ursus arctos middendorffi. The Kodiak bear weighs between 450 and 550 kg. Their IUCN conservation status is Least Concern. Interestingly, there are some genetic similarities between the Kodiak bear and other brown bears found in eastern Russia. The Kodiak bear is the biggest land based carnivore in the world subsisting on mainly river salmon, mountain blueberries, and animal remains.

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