by Wendy Lafond

Created on: May 15, 2008   Last Updated: April 11, 2011

The grizzly bear is the second largest subspecies of the brown bear classification, second only to the Kodiak whichhave been known to have reached 10 feet tall on it's hind legs with a weight of over 1,500 pounds. Grizzlies are easily identified by the long, white-tipped guard hairs on their backs and shoulders that give them the distinctive grizzled appearance they were named for.

These huge bears can be found in the western Providences of Canada, Alaska, Idaho, Wyoming, Washington, and Montana. They tend to stay away from large bodies of water, so their home ranges are generally forested inland areas the contain plentiful food sources and adequate shrub cover. They are basically herbivores, feeding off berries and plant-life throughout the summer. They do enjoy insects, grubs, and occasionally small rodents and when when winter is approaching they will supplement their diet with meat.

Grizzly cubs are born in late January to February while their mother is still hibernating. Most often two cubs are born in a litter, but occasionally there will be one or three. At birth, a grizzly weighs only about a pound, is hairless and blind. While the mama grizzly sleeps the baby will nurse and sleep for another 3-4 months growing to about 20 pounds, during which time they will gain sight and hair. Finally, after much growth, they are ready to leave the den. Grizzly cubs have the ability to climb to escape from predators, but lose the ability, generally, toward the end of their first year.

Grizzlies will spend the first 1 to 3 years of their life with their mother. During that time she will teach them foraging, hunting, and self-preservation techniques. The faster they learn and grow, the sooner they will be on their own. They will reach 150-200 pounds by the end of their first year. They do not reach sexual maturity until between 4 and 5 years. By around 8 years they are considered full grown.

Preferring the evening or early morning hours, some consider the grizzly to be nocturnal. They are just avoiding the mid-day heat, resting in beds constructed in dense cover. As summer winds down and winter approaches, they know that hibernation time is nearing and spend all day, sometimes 14 or more hours, foraging to fatten up so they can survive the long winter with no food.

Under the "Endangered Species Act", the US Fish and Wildlife listed the grizzly bear as a threatened species in 1975. Only in the lower 48 states was is considered threatened as there were so few of them left. They were removed from that list in April of 2007, when it was declared that the grizzly population in the Yellowstone area was recovered. There are an estimated 1,200 grizzlies, n five separate areas in the lower 48 states. Alaska is thought to be home to more than 30,000 grizzly bears. It is the only place in North America where grizzly bears are considered a game animal. There are regional regulations and regular seasons for hunting the majestic grizzly.

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