Flora and fauna in Slovakia – the brown bear

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The brown bear is Slovakia’s largest predator. It has a stocky body, small eyes and ears, a short tail, pronounced claws, and thick fur that is 8 to 12 cm long and comes in a wide range of shades from light brown to almost black. The adult male can weigh up to 350 kg. Brown bears in Slovakia are concentrated in the central, northern and north-eastern mountain areas. The brown bear is an omnivore that prefers to live in mixed and coniferous forests. Its diet is 90% vegetable matter with the remaining 10% consisting of carrion, smaller animals, insects and, occasionally, sick or injured hooved game. Bears hibernate in dens from around early November to April. Female bears and their cubs are the first to enter the dens and the last to emerge from them. Male bears seek out females only during the mating season, usually from the end of April to the beginning of August. The cubs are born during January and February in the safety of the winter den. At birth they are blind, have short fur and weigh less than 500 g. Bears in the wild can live to be more than 30 years old.