Grizzly Bear
Tagged: animal, animals, fish, insect, mammalGrizzly Bear
The Grizzly is found mainly in mountainous regions and national parks in pockets of northwestern North America from Alaska,through British Columbia to Idaho,Montana and Wyoming.
Part of Bodies
- Large nose – give grizzly superb sense of smell
- Long guard hairs – giving a grizzled appearance
- Shaggy fur – helps keep bear warm in winter
- Short,powerful limbs – allow brief spurts of surprising speed
- 5 toed feet, long claw and sharp claw – Useful for digging
Myth or Fact?
A grizzly bear’s sense of smell is so good that it can smell a dead animal from several kilometres away. What’s more, it will travel across mountains, over rivers and through forests to get at it. Sometimes a grizzly bear will even stand up on its hind legs to get a better scent or view of its objective. Certainly, it is an awesome size: the heaviest on record weighed 680 kg (1,496 lb)
STATISTICS
- Status lower risk
- Social unit individual
- Length 2-3 m
- Tail 5-20 cm
- Shoulder height 90-105 cm
- Weight 140-450 kg
- Sexual maturity 2-3 years
- Mating season spring and early summer
- Gestation period about 225 days everage
- Number of young 1-4; average 2
- Diet nuts, roots, berries; fish, mammals and carrion
- Lifespan Up to 25 years
A Grizzly Larder
Grizzlies eat a very wide variety of food, much of it from plants, including grass, berries and nuts. Insects, rodents, fish and carrion ( dead animals ) are also eaten. They are good diggers, too, and often turf out roots, bulbs and even ground squirrels. Sometimes, they will go after large, live prey such as a sick or young moose: the grizzly will chase it with a sudden burst of speed, killing it with a single blow of its paw. In alaska, one of their greatest sources of protein is salmon. Grizzlies gather to fish in large numbers at rapids where salmon jump on their way to spawning grounds in the spring.
Staying with mother
The female grizzly gives birth to up to four cubs in a winter den and has sole responsibility for raising them. She avoids large males who will kill the cubs. They stay with their mother for two or more years, while she teaches them what foods to eat, where to find them and how to get them. They also learn by trial and error. The cubs start to hunt for themselves during their second summer, but continue to stay with the mother. Encumbered by her young, the grizzly female reproduces only every three years.
Almost Wiped Out
Grizzly bears once roamed throught North America from the Arctic Circle to Mexico. Hunting, poisoning and the destruction of their habitat have since wiped them out in most places, and now 70 per cent of the population live in the wilds of Alaska. Despite legal protection in USA and Canada, Grizzly bears are still being killed. Some are shot by farmers and people defending their property, others by hunters after a trophy kill. Many grizzlies live in national parks and reserves where they are the subject of intensive management. Much effort is taken to keep the bears away from the disruptive activities of people.
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