Rescued · Frankie & Hope

European Brown Bear

Ursus arctos arctos

Strong, patient and mostly plant-eating, the European brown bear is a cousin of the grizzly. Meet Frankie and Hope, the brown bears of Plumpton Park Zoo in Rising Sun, Maryland.

Plan Your VisitMeet Frankie & Hope
A European brown bear standing in front of the rock den at Plumpton Park Zoo
Size5–8 ft tall
Weight330–780 lb
Lifespan20–30 years
Conservation statusLeast Concern

Our brown bears

Meet Frankie and Hope

Two rescued bears with a home for life at Plumpton Park.

FrankieHope♥ Rescued

Two European brown bears live at Plumpton Park Zoo: Frankie and Hope. Both are rescued bears. About half of our animals came to us from owners who could no longer keep them, and once an animal arrives, this is its home for life.

European brown bears are known as Eurasian brown bears. Brown bears usually forage in the morning and evening and rest under dense vegetation during the day. Like every animal at Plumpton Park, Frankie and Hope are cared for every day by our keepers and veterinary team.

A European brown bear resting its chin on a green enrichment ball at Plumpton Park Zoo

Frankie with an enrichment ball.

For teachers and homeschool families

A free two-page European brown bear fact sheet with fast facts, words to know, discussion questions and a drawing activity. Teachers may copy and share it freely as long as they credit Plumpton Park Zoo.

Printable Fact Sheet (PDF)


Field guide

Brown bear or grizzly? What sets the European bear apart

Grizzlies, Kodiak bears, and European brown bears are all the same species, Ursus arctos, spread across the northern half of the world. What differs is subspecies, diet, and place. The European brown bear tends to be smaller than the big salmon-fed bears of coastal Alaska and often smaller than an interior grizzly too, though bears in parts of Eastern Europe and Russia can grow very large.

Its diet leans heavily on plants: grasses, roots, berries, nuts, and insects make up most of it, with meat and carrion when available. In Europe, brown bears have shared the landscape with dense human settlement for thousands of years, which has made them generally more secretive and more nocturnal than their North American relatives.

They have the same dished face, muscular shoulder hump, and long claws built for digging. The front claws can reach about 3 inches long. Depending on the season, brown bears may travel hundreds of miles during the autumn to locate food supplies. Brown bears are very strong and show remarkable endurance, reportedly being able to outrun a horse, and drag a dead elk up a hill.

One of the most famous brown bears in history was a soldier. Wojtek, an orphaned Syrian brown bear cub — the same species as our European bears — was adopted by Polish troops in Iran during World War II. He was enlisted as a private, helped carry ammunition during the 1944 Battle of Monte Cassino in Italy, and spent the rest of his life at Edinburgh Zoo in Scotland, where he died in 1963.

Sources: International Association for Bear Research and Management; Animal Diversity Web, University of Michigan; BBC Wildlife.

Hope, a European brown bear, at Plumpton Park Zoo

Hope, one of our European brown bears, showing the dished face and pale, grizzled fur around the head.


At a glance

European brown bear fast facts

Scientific name Ursus arctos arctos
Other name Eurasian brown bear
Animal group Mammal — bear family
Diet Omnivore; mostly plants
Size 5 to 8 feet tall
Weight 330 to 780 lb
Lifespan 20 to 30 years in the wild
Front claws Up to about 3 inches
Conservation status Least Concern (IUCN)

Sources: Animal Diversity Web, University of Michigan; International Association for Bear Research and Management.


20,000

calories a day a brown bear can eat before winter.

Getting ready for winter

The great autumn feast

Before winter, brown bears enter a period of intense eating called hyperphagia, during which they can consume up to 20,000 calories a day to build up fat reserves for hibernation. EuroNatur puts that in fruit: about the same as 66 pounds of apples in a single day.

Despite their bulk, brown bears are excellent swimmers and surprisingly fast on land over short distances. In the wild, a bear usually goes into its den between October and December and comes out between March and May.

Sources: EuroNatur; Animal Diversity Web.


Winter rest

A European brown bear sitting upright against the rock den at Plumpton Park Zoo
Sitting back against the den at Plumpton Park Zoo.

What brown bears do in winter

They enter a deep winter rest, sometimes for months, living on stored fat. It is lighter than true hibernation, and cubs are born in the den during this period.

  • Shoulder hump: a mass of muscle that powers digging.
  • Long front claws: built for digging roots and dens rather than climbing.
  • Fat reserves: the autumn feast carries a bear through months without eating.
  • Den births: cubs arrive in the den between January and March.
  • Strength and stamina: brown bears can travel hundreds of miles in the autumn in search of food.
On the menu

What brown bears eat

They are omnivorous, and their diet varies with the season — from grass and shoots in the spring to berries and apples in the summer, nuts and plums in autumn. All year round they eat roots, insects, mammals, reptiles, and of course, honey.

Plants do most of the work: European brown bears can get up to three quarters of what they need from plant food.

Source: EuroNatur.

A European brown bear eating a carrot, with watermelon at its feet, at Plumpton Park Zoo

A carrot snack at Plumpton Park Zoo.


Family life

Raising brown bear cubs

2cubs in a typical litter (1 to 3)
1 lbabout what a newborn cub weighs
2–3 yrscubs stay with their mother

Brown bears mate between May and July, but the pregnancy does not truly begin right away. The fertilized egg waits until around November to implant, a process called delayed implantation, so the cubs are born in the den between January and March. They arrive blind, nearly hairless and helpless. Cubs stay with their mother for two to three years, learning to forage and hunt before striking out on their own.

Sources: Animal Diversity Web, University of Michigan; International Association for Bear Research and Management.


Spot the difference

European brown bear, grizzly or black bear?

European brown bear

The brown bear of Europe. Often smaller than North American brown bears, mostly plant-eating, and more secretive after thousands of years living near people.

Grizzly

The same species in inland North America, Ursus arctos. Same dished face, shoulder hump and long digging claws.

Kodiak and coastal brown bears

Also Ursus arctos. The big salmon-fed bears of coastal Alaska, usually larger than the European bear.

American black bear

A different species: smaller, more adaptable, with no shoulder hump and shorter, curved claws for climbing. Meet Louie, our black bear.


Conservation

Why they matter

LEAST CONCERN

Brown bears as a species are listed as Least Concern by the IUCN, but that global label hides a patchy picture in Europe. Large, connected populations survive in Scandinavia, the Carpathians, and Russia, while smaller groups in the Pyrenees, the Alps, and the Apennines number only in the dozens or low hundreds and depend on active protection. Roads, fragmented forest, and conflict with farmers keep those populations fragile.

The International Association for Bear Research and Management counts more than 17,000 brown bears in Europe outside Russia, and about 200,000 worldwide. The bear is also a keystone of European folklore and a symbol of wild country that people are working hard to bring back. Seeing one up close helps explain what is at stake. Our Arctic wolves are another predator that shares the brown bear’s northern world.

Sources: International Association for Bear Research and Management; EuroNatur.


Support

A European brown bear cooling off in its pool at Plumpton Park Zoo
Cooling off in the pool at Plumpton Park Zoo.

Help care for Frankie, Hope & the animals of Plumpton Park

As a nonprofit zoo, Plumpton Park Zoo relies on admissions, memberships and the generosity of people who believe in what we do. Donations help support animal care, veterinary services, nutritious diets, enrichment, habitat improvements and the continued development of the zoo.

Adopt Frankie & Hope. One adoption sponsors both bears’ care for a full year, from $50 to $1,000. Every adoption comes with an adoption certificate, a fact sheet, a 4×6 photo and a thank-you note from the bears. Higher levels add a zoo magnet, a plush, a T-shirt, a painting by the bears, an animal encounter with the bears, a behind-the-scenes tour and your name on the Adoption Board. Compare the five adoption levels.

Adopt Frankie & Hope Support Our Animals

Plumpton Park Zoological Gardens, Inc. is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization. Donations support the zoo’s charitable mission and are tax-deductible to the extent permitted by law.


Questions

Questions visitors ask about brown bears

Is a brown bear the same as a grizzly?

Yes, at the species level. “Grizzly” is the common name for inland North American brown bears. The European brown bear is a different subspecies of the same animal.

How dangerous are brown bears?

Wild brown bears generally avoid people, and most incidents involve a surprised bear, a mother with cubs, or a bear defending food. They are powerful animals all the same, which is why zoo keepers everywhere work with bears through barriers rather than sharing a space with them.

What do brown bears do in winter?

They enter a deep winter rest, sometimes for months, living on stored fat. It is lighter than true hibernation, and cubs are born in the den during this period.

How many brown bears live at Plumpton Park Zoo?

Two: Frankie and Hope. Both are rescued bears.

How can I help the bears?

You can support the animals to help fund the food, veterinary care, and enrichment a large bear needs, and meet every species we care for on the all animals page.

Where can I see a brown bear in Maryland?

At Plumpton Park Zoo in Rising Sun, Cecil County, Maryland. See Hours and Tickets for times and admission.



Meet Frankie and Hope at Plumpton Park Zoo

Our brown bears are part of a visit to Plumpton Park Zoo in Rising Sun, Maryland.

The zoo is in Cecil County, an easy drive from Delaware and southern Pennsylvania. While you are here, meet Louie, our American black bear, our Arctic wolves and our tigers, and feed a giraffe.

Hours & TicketsGet TicketsTeacher Fact Sheet (PDF)