These are the biggest of the bear family the male stands at a staggering 10 feet tall thats higher than most ceilings in peoples homes, while the females are a third less in size they are just as dangerous. Their coats range from red to brown to blonde. You can tell a grizzly bear from the hump on their shoulders these humps are muscles that allow them to tear open their prey and dig with ease. Its hind legs are more powerful allowing the bear to run at speeds of 40mph, these bears however are slower running downhill than uphill for the simple fact that the muscle on their shoulders stop them when their weight pushes forward. They are also used for allowing the bear to walk short distances on its hind legs to get a good look at its surroundings. Unlike other bears these bears have great eye sight, and can smell things from up to a mile away.

It is hard to tell a Brown Bear from a Grizzly Bear unless you know what you are looking for you wont be able to, and this could be a life or death decision if you ever face one. A grizzly bears hump is a dead give away but what if its just a brown bear that has put on weight for hibernation. A grizzly bear has much longer claws than a brown bear used for digging and climbing. But the main differance that you should be able to tell straight off is the size and shape of the Grizzly’s skull. The shape of a Brown Bears skull is is rounded and its snout is pretty small for a bear of that size, as on the Grizzly Bear the skull is like that of a Polar Bears long and streched out. Encountering these bears is not advisable for they will catch you and they will kill you without giving it a second thought. These bears have no compassion and are trained killers from chilhood they know no better. You can see from this photograph and note, the long skull shape and the muscle humps above their shoulders.

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Habitat of the Grizzly

The habitat of these bears stretch from Alaska as far south as Washington but are mostly found in Canada but they can also be found in Florida and New Jersey along the San Juan Mountains. There are about 60,000 of these bears that inhabit the North American region. While they are a protected species people are objecting to the reintroducing of these animals in other areas because of the threat they pose to farm land and live stock. You will find these bears in areas that have lakes and rivers because of their love of fish and the abundance of other wildlife that come to drink in these areas. Every year they follow the trout and salmon that head up stream to reproduce.

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The Diet of the Grizzley

Grizzly bears are omnivores meaning they eat animals and plants. They dont seem to mind what they eat as long as they eat. Their diet consists of animals such as Deer, Mouse, Elk, Sheep, Bison, and even Black Bears and have even eaten humans in the past. They thrive on fish such as salmon trout and bass, the bears that live near rivers seem to grow much bigger than the inland bears do because of the protein from the fish. The inland bears eat such things as pine nuts, roots, grasses and various insects and rodents to suppliment them with such proteins. In preperation for the winter months these bears will eat hundreds of kilo’s of food to pile on the weight to last them the hibernation period. Bears usually wait for the first snowfall to retreat to their dens that are elevated up to 6000 feet on northern facing slopes, this lessens the chance of predators attacking their young. Recent studies of the grizzlys behaviour in these periods are proving that grizzly’s dont actually hibernate in areas that have a constant food supply, they seem to skip hibernation.

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These bears have been put on the endangered species list because of humans killing them off in areas there are farms, which seems to be all areas these days and expanding by the day. There is a safe haven set up in Yellowstone Park for these bears but everywhere else in the US and Canada they are still being hunted for sport. I can see the danger that they pose on people and how vicious they are but we as humans are forcing them into extinction in places that they have inhabited for years before we even came along. Dont they have just as much a right as we do to live ?? And were’nt they there first ?? This is just another example of humans and their greed. These are not the only animal that we are driving into extinction and are sure not to be the last.