Bears - Sounds Wild
How Old Do Bears Get?

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Transcript

The Alaska Zoo in Anchorage is bustling in summer, but this day in July of 2021 is a little subdued. Longtime resident Jake the brown bear has died. Jake arrived at the zoo in 1982 and died in 2021 at the age of 39. According to the zoo, he was the oldest known brown bear living in captivity.

Brown bears may live into their mid-20s in the wild. Biologists in Alaska examine hunter-harvested bears and pull a small tooth called the pre-molar. When a section is cut across the root, enamel laid down annually can be counted like tree rings to determine the bear's age. Knowing the average age of harvested bears helps wildlife managers better understand the effect of hunting on bear populations.

Biologists also learn from marked, wild bears. In 1981 bear researchers tagged a three-year-old brown bear on Admiralty Island in Southeast Alaska. In 2015, a hunter brought in the hide and skull of an Admiralty brown bear and biologists realized it was the same bear. He was 37 years old. The oldest documented brown bears in Alaska were a 38 year old male and a 39 year old female. Jake ties that record - although he certainly had better medical care and less stress than those wild bears.