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Adult
grizzly bears usually live to about 20-25 years of age.
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Grizzly
bears have a slow reproductive rate, second only to the musk ox among North
American land mammals.
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Females
do not reproduce until they are 5 - 6 years old.
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They
have an average of about two cubs each breeding cycle.
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The
typical female may give birth to a maximum of 10 cubs over her lifetime,
half of which usually die within a year.
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The
cubs usually remain with the mother for two and a half to three and a half
years. The female does not mate
while rearing young.
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Grizzly
bears have good eyesight (much like humans), and excellent senses of hearing
and of smell
(better than a dog).
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Grizzly
bears are intelligent,
curious, and
have an excellent memory (particularly regarding food sources).
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The
grizzly bear’s claws are used mainly for digging roots.
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The
standing behavior often shown in magazines is not a threatening pose, but
instead is the bear’s way of fully viewing its surroundings and assessing
a possible threat.
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Grizzly
bears are most often found on upper elevation slopes, in avalanche chutes,
and in lower elevation wetlands.
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Females
usually require 50-300 square miles of range, while males require 200-500
square miles. Grizzly bears
usually have overlapping ranges with several bears sharing an area.
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Grizzly
bears den in October or November and emerge from their dens in late March to
April.
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Grizzly
bears are omnivores with a typical diet of
less than 10% fish or meat, and much of that is carrion from winter killed deer and elk.
Grizzly bears in coastal areas are an exception: for these bears,
fish (salmon)
comprise a larger proportion of their diet.
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More
than 100 plants in the North Cascades Ecosystem have been identified as
grizzly bear foods. Grizzly
bears visit wetlands in the spring for succulent
plants that are easy to digest and
high in nutrients.
Summer foods include thistle, cow parsnip, mushrooms, roots, spawning
fish, wild berries, and insects (including clusters of adult moths at
high-elevations). Fall foods
include berries (very important), plants, and ants.
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Grizzly
bears are incorrectly portrayed by the media as voracious predators.
In fact, they
are normally reclusive creatures that act aggressively toward humans only in
specific situations (usually when they feel startled or threatened by human actions
– generally around cubs or food sources).
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More
about grizzly bears.
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Frequently
asked questions.
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