Which island is the primary habitat of the Kodiak bear?

Kodiak bears primarily inhabit Kodiak Island in Alaska's Kodiak Archipelago. The population also occurs on nearby islands, including Afognak, Shuyak, Raspberry, Uganik, and Sitkalidak, but Kodiak Island is the archipelago's main island and the name most directly associated with this bear.

The Kodiak bear is a population or subspecies of brown bear, scientifically named Ursus arctos middendorffi. It became genetically isolated from mainland brown bears after the last Ice Age, roughly 10,000 to 12,000 years ago. That isolation, combined with abundant food, helped produce unusually large bears through island gigantism.

Kodiak Island provides a rich mixture of spruce forest, tundra, mountains, coastal habitat, berries, vegetation, and salmon streams. Bears may gather in large numbers where food is concentrated, especially during salmon runs. A common mix-up is confusing Kodiak bears with polar bears or with all Alaskan brown bears: Kodiak bears are brown bears restricted to the Kodiak Archipelago.