Kodiak bear
The Kodiak bear (Ursus arctos middendorffi), also known as the Kodiak brown bear or the Alaskan grizzly bear, inhabits the islands of the Kodiak Archipelago in southwest Alaska. Its Alutiiq name is taquka-aq. It is the largest brown bear and one of the two largest bears, the other being the polar bear.
Description
Taxonomy
Taxonomist C.H. Merriam was first to recognize Kodiak bears as unique and the only subspecies of the brown bear, and he named the species "Ursus middendorffi" in honor of the celebrated Baltic naturalist Dr. A. Th. von Middendorff. Subsequent taxonomic work merged all North American brown bears into a single species (Ursus arctos).
Genetic samples from bears on Kodiak have shown that they are related to brown bears on the Alaska Peninsula and Kamchatka, Russia, and all brown bears roughly north of the US. Kodiak bears have been genetically isolated since at least the last ice age (10,000 to 12,000 years ago) and very little genetic diversity exists within the population. Although the current population is healthy and productive, and has shown no overt adverse signs of inbreeding, it may be more susceptible to new diseases or parasites than other, more diverse brown bear populations.
