Alternate name: Brown Bear, Alaskan Brown Bear, Kodiak Bear
Family: Ursidae, Bears view all from this family
Description Yellowish brown to dark brown, often with white-tipped hairs, giving grizzled appearance. Hump above shoulders. Facial profile usually somewhat concave. Outer pair of incisors larger than inner 2. Claws of front feet nearly 4" (10 cm) long. Ht about 4' 3" (130 cm); L 5' 11"–7' (180–213 cm); T 3" (7.6 cm); HF 10 1/4" (26 cm); Wt 324–1,499 lb (147–680 kg); some individuals to 1,700 lb (700 kg).
Endangered Status The subspecies of the Grizzly Bear that lives in the contiguous U.S. is on the U.S. Endangered Species List. It is classified as threatened in the lower 48 states, although its current range extends only into Idaho, Montana, Washington (rarely), and Wyoming. (It has not been recorded in Colorado in many years.) Perhaps 50,000 Grizzlies roamed the western U.S. in 1800 from the Canadian border to Mexico, as far east as the middle of the Great Plains. The settlement and development of the West meant changes to and destruction of the Grizzly's habitat, competition with humans for game such as White-tailed Deer, and clashes between bears and humans. Grizzlies were seen as a threat to humans and livestock, and were hunted, trapped, and poisoned extensively, both for food and fur and to eliminate them from areas where humans lived. In 1975, when the Grizzly Bear came under the protection of the U.S. Endangered Species Act, only about 1,000 remained in the lower 48 states. Habitat degradation, from recreational and residential development, road building, and mineral and energy exploration, remains a threat today. Even the development of areas that Grizzlies don't normally live in can be destructive, because the bears may use these areas as corridors to reach suitable feeding habitat. Some private landowners and companies have volunteered to protect these corridors on their land in order to protect the bears. Plans to reintroduce Grizzlies into suitable habitat in the U.S. Northwest have faced serious opposition and may never come to pass.
Warning All North American bears can be dangerous in the following situations: when accompanied by cubs, when surprised by the sudden appearance of humans, when approached while feeding, guarding a kill, fishing, hungry, injured, or breeding, and when conditioned to human foods, as has occurred in some Canadian and U.S. parks. Campers must firmly seal up food and place it out of reach. Bears will break into unattended vehicles if they smell food. The Grizzly is the most dangerous of all bears. Do not feed, approach, surprise at close range, or get between a Grizzly Bear and its food or cubs. While Grizzlies normally avoid humans, they will attack and have been known to seriously injure and even kill humans. Grizzlies can outrun humans, and can climb trees. If charged by a Grizzly, stand your ground; if attacked, lie flat on your stomach and play dead.
Similar Species Black Bear is smaller, lacks shoulder hump, and has straight or slightly convex facial profile; all 3 pairs of its upper incisors are equal in size.
Breeding Mates late June–early July; litter of 1–4 young born January–March. Newborn weighs 1 lb (450 g).
Habitat Forests, nonforested meadows, and valley bottoms, usually in mountainous areas; also along coasts and rivers.
Range Alaska, Yukon, and Northwest Territories south through most of British Columbia and w Alberta to northwestern United States.
Discussion Primarily nocturnal, the great, shaggy Grizzly moves with a low, clumsy walk, swinging its head back and forth, but when necessary it can lope as fast as a horse. Grizzly cubs can climb, though not as nimbly as Black Bear cubs, but they lose their climbing ability during their first year. Omnivorous, the Grizzly Bear feeds on a wide variety of plant material, including roots, sprouts, leaves, berries, and fungi, as well as fish, insects, large and small mammals, and carrion. It is adept at catching fish with a swift snap of its huge jaws, and occasionally will pin a fish underwater with its forepaws, then thrust its head underwater to clasp the catch in its teeth. It digs insects from rotting logs and small mammals from their burrows, sometimes tearing up much ground in the process. It caches the remains of larger mammals, such as Elk, Moose, Mountain Goats, sheep, or livestock, returning to the cache until all meat is consumed. When salmon migrate upstream to spawn, these normally solitary bears congregate along rivers, and vicious fights may erupt among them. More often, they establish dominance through size and threats, spacing themselves out, with the largest, most aggressive individuals taking the choicest stations. In winter, Grizzlies put on a layer of fat, as much as 400 pounds (180 kg) worth, and become lethargic. They den up in a protected spot, such as a cave, crevice, dead tree, or a hollow dug out under a rock, and will return year after year to a good den. Not true hibernators, they can easily be awakened. A Grizzly in captivity has lived 47 years, but the life span in the wild is 15 to 34 years. Once regarded as a separate species, the Alaskan Brown Bear (U. a. middendorffi) is a very large subspecies of Grizzly, usually 800 to 1,200 pounds (360–545 kg) at eight or nine years of age, and eventually reaching 1,700 pounds (770 kg), making it the world’s largest terrestrial carnivore. This subspecies ranges over the coasts and islands of southern Alaska, including Kodiak Island, where it is known as the Kodiak Bear.
