Facts about the Grizzly Bear.
Grizzly bears live throughout the U.S.A., Canada, Alaska and parts of the former Soviet Union. They are brown. The name grizzly comes from the fact that their fur, appears to be white-tipped, or grizzled. Their claws can be up to 4 inches. Grizzly Bear front claws can be up to 4-inches. Grizzly bears most definable trait is the hump on their shoulders. The hump is a large, powerful muscle that helps provide power to their forelimbs through their schedule.
Diet, Habitat, behaviour and Mating:
Diet-wise, the grizzly bears eat whatever they like. They are on-top-of-the-food-chain predators. However, most of their diet revolves around nuts, berries, fruits, leaves, and roots. They eat moose, elk, bison, and mice. The grizzlies are powerful enough to make a meal out of anything. Quantity-wise, they can eat up to 90lbs of food each day.
The Grizzly Bears like open areas including the tundra, alpine meadows, and coastlines. Grizzlies are solitary animals and only meet up with other Grizzlies for mating. In case they meet other bears, the social interactions between the bears are limited.
The bears have a habit of rubbing their backs against trees. The purpose is to communicate with other Grizzly bears by emitting a scent onto the tree. They are not trying to get rid of an itch from their backs.
The cubs require about 2-3 years of nursing before they can go out on their own. The cubs become less dependent on their mama’s milk and eat solid food from an early age. Females give birth during hibernation in which they spend most of their time in the dens they build before the winter period.
Other interesting facts about the Grizzly Bear:
In fictional stories, bears appear to be slow, lazy, and clumsy. However, appearances are deceptive. Grizzlies can run at speeds ranging from 27.78-35 miles per hour. This means they can beat many sprinters including the legendary, Usain Bolt. Also, contrary to popular belief, Grizzly bears can climb trees. However, they need proper support from evenly spaced branches as the bears have long claws and are heavy animals. They can be dangerous to humans if they feel threatened or if a human comes near their cubs.
Conservation efforts and threats:
Like many beautiful creatures, Grizzly bears populations are facing threats to their existence. Threats to their populations’ existence include human activities like logging, hunting, development, and mining. The sad part is that there is legalized bear hunting in Canada. A dead Grizzly bear is viewed as a trophy. There have been some controversial efforts to remove laws that aim at protecting the Grizzly Bears in recent years.
On a positive note, there have been conservation efforts to boost the bears’ populations. In the USA, the Endangered Species Act helps in conserving the bear’s population. U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service have helped in conservation efforts by setting up recovery zones. Its aims at setting up recovery zones which help in reimbursing ranchers for the livestock killed by Grizzly bears. The Recovery Zones also aim at improving human-bear relations by educating people about the bears.
