The large bears of North America appear considerably altered from the pre-Great Fire species, now reaching an adult weight of over 1000kg or more, according to some claims. Their territory is broad, but in maintains its highest concentrations in the northern parts of the continent.
Theories of the altered species's origin include mutation (from fallout), genetic engineering (MSCs or forced evolution), cybernetic enhancement, or a natural response to a changed ecosystem--possibly the expression (in the pre-End Brown Bear) of a latent gene influencing gigantism. In support of the last idea, remaining old world books contain references to grizzly bears (Ursus arctos horribilis) as large as 1800 pounds found in the old American west (19th cent), their size apparently attested to later by preserved hides and skeletons. However, some have claimed the modern brown bear's skeletal structure to be so unlike that of Ursus arctos to suggest a different lineage altogether: that of Ursus spelaeus, the long extinct (European) Cave Bear. Incidentally, this theory would put their origins in line with certain folk traditions of Bjorngard, holding the bears to be great beings awoken from an ancient slumber by the destruction of civilization. Parallel traditions in Bjorngard consider the bears to be part of a resurgence of divine natural power occurring after the End of the World.
