Brown bears are huge; some weigh up to 1,700 pounds (771 kg) and are 3 m tall. They will eat just about anything from berries and nuts to fish, and even the occasional moose. A grizzly bear will attack a human if he gets in the way of its young or food sources, but grizzly bear attacks are rare. And that’s a good thing: A grizzly bear’s bite force has been estimated to be between 975 and 1,160 pounds per square inch, enough to do considerable damage to a bowling ball, a lion, and a tiger. However, there are more powerful animal bites. Gorillas (1,300 psi), cheetahs (1,350 psi), and hippos (1,825 psi) have stronger jaws. The worst biters, however, live in or near water: the alligator can attack with a bite of 2,125 psi, the saltwater crocodile’s crunch is 3,700 psi, and the great white shark’s estimated bite can reach 4,000 psi.
More about grizzly bears:
When a brown bear opens its mouth wide, the opening is about 30 cm.
Each adult bear has 42 teeth: four prominent, curved canines, 12 incisors, 16 premolars, and 10 molars.
A grizzly bear needs to consume about 20,000 calories a day, so eating is a high priority, except when the bears are hibernating.
