Overview
Native to the northern USA and Canada, the grizzly bear (or Ursus arctos horribilis) is a subspecies of the brown bear. A grizzly can be identified by its thick, brown fur, a large shoulder hump, straight snout and rounded ears. They have strong front legs with long claws used for digging and hunting. They can grow extremely large, though there is a lot of variation in size between different populations. The average male measures 2.2m long in head-body length and weighs 240kg, while an average female measures 1.8m in head-body length and weighs 160kg.
Found in North America
Regions
- North America
Biomes
- Taiga
- Temperate
- Tundra
- Wetlands
Size & weight
Size
Length: 2.25 to 2.65 m
Weight
Male
220 kg
Female
165 kg
Bars use a log scale against the heaviest animal in the Zoopedia, the Common Hippopotamus.
Measured as Length. The person stands 1.75 m tall for scale.
Habitat requirements
Barrier grade
Grade 4 of 5
Minimum height
2 m minimum
Climbing & water
Climb proof
Needed
Water barrier
Not allowed
Combine this animal with others in the barrier planner.
Conservation
IUCN Red List
Least concern
Least concern
Critically endangered
Wild population
55,000
55,000 - 60,000 in the wild. Rank 36 of 57 species with a known count, smallest first.
Assessed as Least Concern today, the grizzly bear is present in only a small area of its former range across North America. Historically, European settlement as well as bounty programmes in the 19th and 20th centuries decimated populations to a few hundred bears by the 1970s. Today, populations in national parks are recovering, but the grizzly remains under threat from infrastructure development, climate change, human-wildlife conflict and poaching. Conservation actions consist of habitat protection and management, human-wildlife conflict mitigation and legal protection. As part of a recovery plan, core ecosystems in their range are identified, and large, interconnected landscapes that can support viable populations are preserved. To reduce wildlife conflict, bear-proof infrastructure and public awareness about safe food storage practices are applied. Efforts also include proposals for future reintroductions into historic habitats such as the North Cascades.
Zoopedia sketchbook
Social & reproduction
Keeper notes
Grizzly bears are solitary, the only exception being a mother with her cubs. They only interact with each other to mate or fight over mates. They may be seen in close quarters when there is a desirable food source, such as gathering at a river's edge during the salmon spawning season. However, bears will usually ignore each other if they come across one another. From May to June, male grizzly bears track females using the scent of their urine. When a male and female meet, they will play together; wrestling and pawing each other before mating. Males will be aggressively fighting off rivals in order to mate with a female. Females undergo delayed implantation, so that the young are born during hibernation in the winter, after a pregnancy of about 6 months. Litters range from 1 to 4 cubs. The cubs will search out milk and suckle from their mother until the end of hibernation, when they will leave the den and have their first solid food. The mother won’t mate while she is caring for her offspring, and may also not produce a new litter for a few years after their dispersal. The bear cubs stay with their mother until they are 2 to 3 years old, at which point they will leave to establish their own territory. However, they aren’t sexually mature until 5 years old, and males may only be strong enough to secure a mate until 7 years or older.
Animal facts
- Wild grizzly bears hibernate for 5 to 7 months a year; they will eat huge amounts before hibernating to gain enough weight to survive this time without eating.
- The 'hump' visible on a grizzly bear's back is a large amount of muscle that bears use when digging dens or hunting prey.
- Grizzly bears can gain 180kg of weight when preparing for hibernation.
- In the wild each cub in a grizzly bear litter may have a different father.
- Grizzly bears love to eat moths, and will make the extra effort to find moths by climbing to high altitudes and overturning rocks.
Taxonomy
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Order
Family
Genus
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