FACT ABOUT GRIZZLY
BEAR
(Ursus Arctos Horribilis)
Grizzly bear can be a
man sweet animal. The cute face might be an attraction to everyone. A lot of
cartoon often show different representation. The Grizlly bear “is not” a tame
animal. It is considered as wild and harm kind
of animal.
I heard my mom one say that there was a
serial movie about this animal. What she remembers ever is the theme song is so
memorable and can fly her to those days of her childhood.
Habitat
In the United States, 50,000 grizzly bears once roamed the land from the
Pacific Ocean to the Great Plains, but when pioneers came in the 1800s they
wiped out much of the continental U.S. grizzly bear population.
Now only about 1200 – 1400 grizzly bears
live in five separate populations in the northwest U.S., including areas in
Montana, Idaho, Wyoming, and Washington, and the grizzly bear is a protected
species under the Endangered Species Act.
In Canada and Alaska, grizzly bear
numbers are much higher, with about 30,000 grizzlies in the wild.
Posture and Anatomy
Standing as tall as
2.5 m (8 ft) and weighing up to 360 kg (800 lbs.), the grizzly bear is a
subspecies of brown bear that inhabits western Canada and the northwestern
United States.
How They Adapt The Wild
Grizzly bears are specially adapted to
survive the changing seasons. During warmer months, they eat a massive amount
of food so they can live off body fat during the winter, when food is scarce. They
may intake 40 kg (90 lbs.) of food each day, gaining over 1 kg (2.2 lbs.) of
body weight a day.
As omnivores, grizzlies will eat
anything nutritious they can find, gorging on nuts, fruit, leaves, roots,
fungi, insects, and a variety of animals including salmon and other fish,
rodents, sheep, and elk. Their diet varies depending on what foods are
available for the season.
In the fall, as temperatures cool and
food becomes scarcer, grizzlies dig dens in the sides of hills. They have long
rounded claws (the size of human fingers) and a large mass of muscles on their
backs that help them dig. These characteristics, along with small rounded ears
and white-tipped (or “grizzled”) fur, distinguish grizzly bears from black bears.
The bears settle in their dens to sleep
for the winter. While it is not classified as a true hibernation (since the
bears can wake up during this time), the deep sleep allows the grizzlies to
conserve energy. Their heart rate slows down from 40 beats per minute to 8, and
they do not go to the bathroom at all during these months of slumber.
Giving Birth to Survive Live
Pregnant bear even give birth in their
sleep! Midwinter, grizzly bear cubs (usually born in pairs) arrive into the
world blind, hairless, and toothless. They use what little strength they have
to nestle into their mother and nurse. For a month, the cubs feed on their
mother’s milk and gain strength. By the time spring comes, the cubs have opened
their eyes and grown teeth and fur; the new family is ready to venture outside
the den.
The cubs stay under their mother’s care
for 2-3 years. While mother grizzlies are fiercely protective of their cubs,
nearly half the cubs do not survive past the first year, falling to disease,
starvation, and predators like wolves, mountain lions, and adult male
grizzlies.
Ability
Grizzly bears have a
multitude of strengths. They are highly intelligent and have excellent
memories. Detecting food from great distances away, grizzlies have an astute
sense of smell, even better than that of a hound dog. They are good swimmers
and fast runners, reaching speeds as high as 50 km/h (35 mph) over land. Young
grizzlies also have the ability to climb trees to evade danger, but this skill
fades as they become bigger.
Conservation Status
Grizzly bears are threatened by habitat
loss due to logging, development, and mining. Human interaction also poses a
threat to grizzlies. When bears are drawn close to humans, attracted by
livestock, garbage, and other food, they are often exterminated. Furthermore,
in Canada, people hunt grizzlies for trophy (where it is legal to do so). In
the U.S., sometimes grizzlies are shot by people mistaking them for black
bears, which are not protected.
What You Can Do to Help
If you would like to
help grizzlies, you can donate to organizations such as Defender of Wildlifeand National Wildlife Federation, which help preserve
grizzly habitat and work toward minimizing human-bear conflicts (with measures
like bear-resistant dumpsters and electric fences).
When living in or visiting grizzly bear
habitat, do not feed the bears, and keep all garbage securely contained.
Grizzly Bear Distribution
Grizzly bears inhabit Alaska, western Canada, and
parts of the northwestern United States.
