Brown bears are loners and roam through fixed territories. In the wild, bears can live to an age of around 20 to 25 years. Read here about a typical year in the life of a bear – its reproductive, feeding and resting cycle.

The mating season for bears begins in May and June. During this period, the animals abandon their solitary way of life. Once a male has found a suitable female partner, he must proceed with caution –  first he must win her confidence. If the female does not accept his advances, he might get swiped by a paw. If she accepts him, the two roam together for a while until they mate. Then they part ways and both look out for potential new partners. This way, the chance of fertilization is higher.

Fertilized egg cells do not nest in the female's uterus until autumn (up to then they are dormant) and only develop once the bear has eaten enough to put on sufficient weight for the winter. This is the reason why most cubs are born at around the same time – approximately February – in the winter den. In lean years, the egg cells sometimes die because these young would probably not survive.

Bear cubs are born after a gestation period of around 180-270 days. The newborn bears are hairless, blind, and toothless and are completely dependent on the mother. A litter usually consists of one to three cubs that weigh only 300 to 400 grams at birth, and are around 30 centimeters long. The mother's milk, which is rich in fat, makes the cubs grow fast: after four months they already weigh four to five kilograms (10-11 lbs).

In the next three years, the cubs learn everything about a bear's life from their mother. They explore their surroundings with curiosity and make their own discoveries. But they always return to the mother who nurses them during the entire rearing phase. During this time, the mother animal is not ready for new young. This can sometimes cause a male intent on mating to kill her cubs in order to sire his own offspring. Only around half of the young survive the first three years. When rearing is over, the mother firmly drives away her offspring, especially the males. This serves to protect her from incest. Female young are allowed to remain in the territory for longer.

Bears use the autumn to lay on fat reserves. In the cold season, the brown bear goes into a state of torpor. Its body shifts into dormancy mode. The bear's heart then beats at a rate of only eight beats a minute instead of forty. And its body temperature drops by around five degrees. Thus energy consumption is reduced and the bear has no need to feed for many months.