The brown bear (Ursus arctos) has one of the widest natural distributions of any land-dwelling predator and is found today across large parts of North America, Europe, and Asia. In Europe, brown bears live in regions such as Scandinavia, Eastern Europe, and the Alps. In Asia, they range from Turkey through Siberia to northern Japan. In North America, the species is especially common in Alaska and western Canada, with smaller populations further south in the United States.
Globally, brown bears are divided into several populations and subspecies based on their geographic location and genetic differences. They are known by different names around the world—such as grizzly bears, Kodiak bears, or Kamchatka bears—but they are all part of the same species. In Scandinavia, brown bears are primarily found in Sweden and Finland, with a smaller population in Norway, particularly near the Swedish border.
5,000 years ago, brown bears roamed the forests that once covered Djursland. We know this because archaeologists discovered a bear skull buried alongside a human in a Stone Age grave near Ginnerup. The burial dates back to the Neolithic period and is solid evidence that brown bears were a natural part of the Danish wildlife at that time.
The fact that the skull was placed in a human grave suggests that the bear may have held a deeper meaning – perhaps as prey, symbol, or spiritual figure. What we do know for certain is that brown bears gradually disappeared from Denmark as forests were cleared and the human population grew.
When the brown bear enclosure at Scandinavian Wildlife Park was constructed in 2003, the past once again made its presence known. Archaeological excavations revealed the remains of a settlement from the Funnel Beaker Culture – the very people who likely hunted wild brown bears in this region. In other words: 5,000 years before the bear habitat was built, ancient bear hunters lived on that exact same spot. History truly comes full circle.
Today, the brown bear lives in the park as a kind of living time capsule. It represents a predator that once roamed freely in the Danish landscape – including here on Djursland – reminding us just how wild our world used to be.
