Animals Unite ! - Grizzly Bear

Grizzly Bear

Grizzly Bear Image courtesy of
Eastern Slopes Grizzly Bear Project

To many people, the grizzly bear is considered to be one of the most famous of all wild animals in our country. It has been featured in many a legend of the wild frontier and continues to feed our imaginations. However, its very existence is threatened in the wild. Below is some information and a clay animation of the grizzly bear.

Description:

The grizzly bear (scientific name is Ursus arctos horribilis) is large, average seven feet in length and can weigh up to 850 pounds. Their fur is brown with whitish tips on the outer parts. The legs are very strong and massive but relatively short. The cubs are born almost hairless, blind and toothless and are usually about 8 inches long and weigh only about 1 to 2 pounds at birth.

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Habitat:

The grizzly bear can be found in the wild in parts of Canada and in the state of Alaska. They are also in wildlife reserves in Idaho, Montana, Wyoming, and Washington. Grizzlies look for food mostly in the spring and summer. Grizzlies are omnivores so that means they eat both plants and animals. Their favorite food is fish, namely salmon. A grizzly can scoop a salmon right out of the water with its powerful paw. Grizzly bears hibernate in the winter. In order to do this they eat a lot in the warm months, saving up body fat for their sleep time. However, they will awaken on warm winter days to go out and search for food. They hibernate in dens that they dig in the fall.

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Danger:

The grizzly bear has no natural enemies. Humans are the main reason for the grizzly bear to be endangered. This is because of hunting or poaching of the bear and also because of loss of habitat. Another problem is that grizzlies have only one or two cubs at a time and not until the female is at least seven years old.

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Programs:

There are several programs in the USA and Canada that are working to help the grizzly bear in the wild. Here are a few of them:
- * The National Wildlife Federation has a program to reintroduce grizzly bears into one of their former ranges in central Idaho and northwest Montana - the Selway-Bitterroot Wilderness Area. You can read more about this at the NWF grizzly website: http://www.nwf.org/grizzly/index.html
- The Eastern Slopes Grizzly Bear Project near Alberta, Canada is working hard to save grizzlies by gathering up-to-date information on their status, challenges they face and what is being done to help them. It is at:
  http://www.canadianrockies.net/Grizzly
- Wind River Bear Institute as a wonderful grizzly bear conservation project which is working to recondition grizzly bears to stay away from human developments and garbage sites. This will be safer for both the grizzly bears and humans. To read more about the program go to the Wind River Bear Institute website at: http://www.beardogs.org/

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Resources:

Books
* Amazing Animals by the Editors of Time-Life Books,
Time-Life Books, copyright 1990
* The Atlas of Endangered Animals by Steve Pollock
Belitha Press Limted, London House, copyright 1993
* Eye on Nature by Celia Bland
Kidsbooks, Inc., copyright 1997
* The Fight For Survival- Animals in Their Natural Habitats
by Peter Brazaitis and Myrna Watanabe,
Michael Friedman Publishing Group, copyright 1994
Websites:
* Eastern Slopes Grizzly Bear Project: http://www.canadianrockies.net/Grizzly/
* National Wildlife Federation: http://www.nwf.org
* Texas Park and Wildlife Service: http://www.tpwd.state.tx.us
* The Bear Den: http://exn.ca/bears/bears.cfm
Graphics:
* Logo at top: Some of the animals (mountain lion, manatee, and grizzly bear came from Corel Web Graphics (1996) and Corel Draw Version 9 (2000). The leopard is from IUCN-World Conservation Union Website, ghost bat is copyright(c) Perth Zoo, Western Australia, ocelot is courtesy of Tom Smylie of United States Fish and Wildlife Service and Texas Parks and Wildlife Service, bald eagle (both in logo and at top ) courtesy of Pomegranate Calendars, "Spirit of America", Shaefer & Hill
* Side bar logo is from Power Point 2000.
* Grizzly Bear image at top of page is courtesy of Eastern Slopes Grizzly Bear Project

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Animation:

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