Bear Facts

"Where grizz endure, you are part of the ecosystem, whether you believe you are or not. You are in nature, the way people used to be. It's enough to make you lose your swagger out there. For some, that will be upsetting; for others, an opportunity to reconnect."

Douglas H. Chadwick True Grizz

Mr. Hancock

Here is some grizzly data from True Grizz by Douglas H. Chadwick which I have been reading in preparation for our trip to Yellowstone and The Grand Tetons this summer.

• Other names: Silver Tip, oso plateado, Bear That Walks Like a Man, Old Ephraim
• Scientific Name: Ursus arctos horribilis 
• General Characteristics: Dished face 
• Weight: From 250 pounds (Rocky Mountain females), to 1,800 pounds (Alaskan males) 
• Length: 6 to 9 feet 
• Claw Length: 3.5 to 4 inches
• Top Speed: 30 to 35 miles per hour with rapid acceleration
• First Time Mothers: age 3 or 4
• Infant Weight at Birth: just 1 to 1.5 pounds
• Litter Size: 2 to 4
• Duration of Mother-Cub Association: 2 or 3 years is usual
• Interval between Births: most often 3
• Longevity: 25 to 30 years
• Intelligence, Emotions, and Sociability: keen, highly developed, semi solitary
• Typical Home Range: Rocky Mountains, males: 200-500 sq. mi. females: 50-300 sq. mi.
• Numbers in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem: 400-600. Possibly more.
• They are listed as threatened in the Lower 48 since 1975 under the Endangered Species Act