The Bergman's Bear

koala · Site Admin Joined: 12 Oct 2006 Posts: 712

The Bergman's Bear (Ursus arctos piscator) is allegedly an extinct subspecies of the Brown Bear that lived in the Kamchatka Peninsula. The bear was identified and named by Swedish zoologist Sten Bergman in 1920, but it is unclear if his classification is recognized by the larger scientific community.

Bergman determined that the bear was a separate species after examining a hide (which had fur very different from other local bears) and series of footprints, measuring 14.5 x 10 inches, which he judged to be much larger than other bears on Kamchatka.

Interest in the bear was revitalized in the 1960s. Hunter Rodion Sivobolov reported claims by Kamchatka natives of an unusually large bear they called either the Irkuiem (roughly meaning "trousers pulled down" due to the appearance of the bear's hind legs), or the "God bear" due to its large size.

Based on Sivobolov's description, biologist N.K. Vereshchagin suggested that the God bear might be a relict Arctodus simus, a massive extinct bear. This idea was coolly received by the scientific community.