Grizzly bear. Grizzly bear habitat and lifestyle. The biggest bears Where grizzlies live

Grizzly is a subspecies of brown bear, reaching four meters in height and weighing about a ton, lives mainly in the Canadian forests, Rocky Mountains and Alaska in North America. From afar, the bear seems gray, so the settlers, when they first saw it, gave the bear such a name, which means “gray” in English.

Previously, the animal's habitat, in addition to the indicated territories, covered northern Mexico and the state of Texas, but the advancing civilization pushed the beast far to the north and high into the mountains.

A distinctive feature of the grizzly is its long fifteen-centimeter claws, which are its formidable weapons. Due to the large length of the claws, the grizzly can only climb trees as a child.

This bear has a bad reputation as a bloody killer. However, the bear in its diet prefers young shoots of plants and nuts, berries and fruits, algae and roots. Sometimes this bear eats bird eggs, feasts on fish and honey, does not neglect reptiles, frogs, insects and their larvae, does not disdain even carrion, the smell of which is felt at a distance of almost 30 km.

Since the grizzly is a predator, large animals also take place in its diet, among which the old and sick, or inexperienced youth predominate.

Therefore, the bear is considered an omnivore and its teeth are adapted to a varied diet.

Among the North American Indians, it is considered a great honor to wear a necklace made from the teeth and claws of a grizzly bear.

An animal with great strength, striking with its paw and tenacious claws, can overwhelm a deer, and pursuing prey at a speed of about 60 km / h, it shows miracles of dexterity. In pursuit of a prey, a grizzly can swim across a river with little effort.

During salmon spawning, bears gather near the river, occupying a certain area, and start fishing, using all sorts of tricks: stick their heads into the water and grab the fish with their mouths or paws. Some individuals manage to catch a fish when it jumps out of a turbulent river.

Like a brown bear, grizzlies, having accumulated fat reserves over the summer and autumn, fall into hibernation. During the thaw, the grizzly leaves the den and begins to wander through the forest in search of food, and when the frost intensifies, it goes back to the den.
Grizzlies keep to themselves, avoiding company except during the mating season. After romantic meetings between a female and a male, after 250 days in January, naked, blind and toothless cubs weighing less than 700 grams are born in the den. The mother looks after her offspring for about two years. Therefore, with the onset of the next winter, the she-bear settles down for the winter together with the cubs that have grown up over the summer.

Little grizzly bears are easy to tame. They quickly get used to a person and even rush to his defense in case of danger.

AT vivo grizzlies are afraid of a person and try to go home.

Grizzlies can also attack a person, but this is extremely rare in cases where a person himself provokes a beast. If this bear is wounded, it will defend itself fiercely and become very dangerous.

Video: Grizzly bear hunting (lat. Ursus arctos horribilis)

Movie: Grizzly Cauldron - Yellowstone Battleground (2009)

Movie: wild america: Grizzly vs polar bear

April 15th, 2013

Grizzly is a huge gray bear, familiar to us from the stories and novels of Jack London, Seton-Thompson and Curwood. The largest and most ferocious predator in North America, the most dangerous enemy of any hunter. Even Latin name grizzly subspecies - Horribilis - means "terrible, terrible." The grizzly is indeed one of the largest American predators. It weighs up to 500 kg and, standing on its hind legs, reaches 3 m in height! And this is not the limit! The closest relatives of grizzlies - brown bears that live in Alaska and Kodiak Island - are even larger. The weight of individual individuals reaches 700 kg, and the height on the hind legs is 3.3 m! This is one of the largest land predators.

Westerns and hunting stories from the Wild West often feature deadly contractions with grizzlies and grizzly raids on cattle ranches. But fiction in these stories is almost always more than the truth. The grizzly is not the only animal whose ferocious temper and bloodthirstiness are attributed to him completely undeservedly.

AT old times grizzlies were full masters of the American mountains and forests. They did not know any competitors and rivals, except for each other. Therefore, grizzlies were very self-confident and often even attacked people if they were disturbed by them - or if they believed that they wanted to be disturbed. In all Indian tribes, it was considered a feat to defeat a grizzly, even six or eight. Still - with spears, arrows and a stone ax against such a hulk! The first European settlers, with their flintlock guns, round bullets and ever-soaked gunpowder, also felt very uncomfortable among grizzlies. Then the tragic outcome when meeting with a grizzly was indeed not uncommon.

Even a hundred and two hundred years later, in some parts of America, it was not entirely clear who was pursuing whom, who, in fact, was a hunter, and who was a game. True, grizzlies usually attacked only when they were wounded, but at the same time they fully justified the nickname " scary bears". The grizzly is very tough on the wound. Even after receiving several bullets, the angry bear continued to attack, and the hunters did not always manage to escape - except to have time to climb a tree or jump into a boat. There were also sudden, unprovoked attacks, usually with dire consequences.

So, for example, in 1823, in the upper reaches of the Missouri, not far from Fort Kiowa, such a story happened. Captain Smith, who was at the head of a small hunting expedition, was suddenly attacked by a grizzly in the middle of a clearing. The beast first lifted the horse under him, then grabbed the rider by the head and gnawed into chips the handle of the knife with which he tried to defend himself! The bear was killed by a friendly volley, but the captain managed to get severe wounds. The grizzly actually scalped him with his huge fangs and tore off one ear hanging from a flap of skin!

None of the captain's companions had any medicine or medical knowledge. Nobody knew what to do. Finally, the captain, who did not lose consciousness, asked one of them to get a needle and thread and simply sew the torn skin back to his head. And he sewed! Without any anesthesia - it did not exist at all then. He wanted to cut off his ear completely, but the captain asked that it be sewn back to its original place - perhaps it will grow back. So they did. Then they helped the captain to get to the nearest stream, where they rested a little. A few hours later, Smith was already able to get back on his horse and get to the camp. He recovered, and even the severed ear really grew back! It is simply amazing what strong material these people were then made of - trappers and explorers.

But time passed. The barrels of guns acquired screw rifling, then the guns became breech-loading, firing many times in a row, and the bullets themselves turned from round to conical. They flew further and deeper into the bodies of the victims. And the more perfect the weapon became, the more impudently the man treated the former ruler of the American continent.

So, in the middle of the 19th century in California, the Spaniards who then dominated there amused themselves by surrounding a bear on horseback and throwing a lasso around his neck. And one Spanish officer once decided on a bet to do it alone. He really managed to throw a lasso on the bear - however, not on the neck, but on the paw - and he tried to drag the bear behind the horse. Yes, it was not there! The horse could not move even a centimeter. And the bear, taken aback at first, came to his senses, hit a couple of times with his paw on a stretched lasso, then began to gnaw it with his teeth. And then he ran away and dragged the horse and rider behind him, like a dog! In the end, the officer had no choice but to cut the lasso with a knife blow to the loud laughter of the spectators who followed him on horseback.

Somewhat later, it became fashionable for the Californian Spaniards to catch grizzlies alive and force them to fight bulls instead of bullfighters in the arena. In order to equalize the chances of opponents as much as possible, the bear was put on a short chain, which severely limited its movements. Then the bull was released. There was no need to incite him - he himself, obeying instinct, rushed at the bear and stuck his horns in his ribs. The bear, however, clung to his nose with his teeth, and with his claws in the scruff of the neck, and a furious struggle began, followed by the Spaniards, greedy to bloody spectacles, with burning eyes. Bears usually win...

Very hard times came for the grizzly, when north american prairie filled the farmer's herds. Grizzlies began to shoot intensively to protect livestock from them. Although they attacked livestock very rarely. There was a premium for the head of each bear; they were hunted with packs of dogs, scattered with poisoned baits. As a result of such extermination, the grizzly became less and less. And the rest became more and more timid, they retreated to the most remote mountain valleys inaccessible to humans, the forests of Canada, British Columbia and the Yukon. In the end, there were only a few left. Yes, and they were very careful, tried not to catch the eye of people. Not once in the first decades of the 20th century was anyone heard of a grizzly attacking anyone. It seemed that they had completely changed their temper and that they were not at all the great-grandchildren of those terrifying beast. The grizzlies must have appreciated the danger posed by a man armed with modern weapons.

At the same time, when grizzlies began to be seriously studied, quite unexpected things turned out. It turned out that almost all grizzlies ... generally vegetarians! 99 grizzlies out of 100 feed on plant foods and consume small animals, such as marmots, as well as insects, very moderately. So they suffered, one might say, undeservedly.

But there are exceptions. Rarely, but there are carnivorous grizzlies hunting big game. Such a grizzly-meat-eater, as a rule, is larger, stronger and more evil than a "vegetarian" and for a hunter, indeed, a serious opponent.

The most famous of these bears was a huge grizzly named Old Moses. For a full 35 years - from 1869 to 1904 - this bear terrorized a huge area in the state of Colorado. During this time, he slaughtered 800 heads of large cattle- not counting calves and small animals - and killed at least five people who tried to shoot him. But even he himself never attacked people if he was not touched. Eyewitnesses said that Old Moses even had a peculiar sense of humor - he liked to chip off purely bearish jokes. More than once, for example, he arranged such a number: he sneaked imperceptibly to the fires of travelers or gold diggers and suddenly burst into the camp with a roar, scattering everything in his path! But he never hurt anyone - if they did not try to shoot at him. He was simply pleased to see how people, terrified to death, screaming in fear, rush to save themselves in the trees. After putting things in order and reminding who was the boss, Old Moses peacefully retired away.

That Old Moses always made a fool of trappers when they tried to earn the bounty promised on his head. Through the stretched cords leading to the crossbows, he carefully jumped over, and he always managed to get the bait from the traps without closing the trap.

To date, grizzlies live mainly in national parks: Yellowstone, Mount McKinley and Glacier Park. For decades, they were carefully guarded there, and this led to the fact that in the early 60s, grizzlies in the parks began to attack people again!

True, they are no longer provoked by shots, but by tourists who, despite the ban, again and again feed the bears. Those get used to it and themselves begin to come to tourist tents and roads. Such an insolent bear quickly loses its fear of humans. If it seemed to him that the treat was not enough or it would not be to his taste, he can immediately get angry and attack.

No less dangerous were food waste dumps that accumulated near tourist campsites, as well as dumps scattered by single tourists near tents. They invariably attracted bears - both grizzlies and baribals. An animal accustomed to visiting these dumps can, on occasion, climb into a tent. He quickly gets used to ignoring the neighborhood of a person, and this leads to a loss of respect and caution on both sides. In the 60s, a special population of bears appeared, which existed almost entirely due to dumps and begging. Attacks of such insolent bears on people happened quite often. More than 13 such attacks happened in Mount McKinley Park, and even more - in Glacier Park and Yellowstone. Some of them ended tragically.

In August 1967, in two widely separated sections of Glacier Park, two young women were killed by bears. The incident caused great outrage in the press. Then another woman died - right in the middle of the campsite, just a few hundred meters from the garbage dumps where bears regularly rummaged.

Then in 1970 the administration national parks decided to urgently eliminate all garbage cans. But zoologists who studied the life of grizzlies in Yellowstone Park warned that this should be done gradually, otherwise the bears, in search of a replacement, will intensively visit and gut tourists' tents. Landfills in the winter of 1970-1971 were all removed completely and simultaneously. And the result was not slow to follow. More and more bears hung around campsites and tents, scaring tourists. The number of bear robberies and gang attacks has risen sharply. Insolent animals were caught, put to sleep with the help of narcotic charges, and transported to another part of the park, and even beyond. But the bears quickly returned back and, being hungry, represented more great danger. As a result, some of the animals had to be shot, and campsites had to be fenced off. But since the influx of visitors to the parks has increased dramatically since the early 70s, the tragedies continued. Every year at least three people were injured. After all, it is difficult to convince tourists not to scatter food waste.

In the summer of 1975, 5 visitors were injured by bears in Glacier Park, and two in Yellowstone Park. On August 16, 1976, a hiker tried to drive two bear cubs away from his food supplies, which he kept outdoors. And greedy men, sparing food for the bear, bears do not like very much! It all ended for the poor guy serious plastic surgery on the face.

And in 1979, a grizzly killed a tourist in his own tent. The victim, a young man named Harry Walker, was casually handling food waste. The court decided that the administration was to blame for eliminating the landfills at the same time, and awarded Walker's heirs $87,400 in moral damages.

Today's grizzlies living outside of national parks are also unsafe. In August 1974, 36-year-old photographer John River died in Alaska, who flew specially to shoot bears. He was killed by a grizzly male when he unceremoniously tried to make a portrait of him with an overly close range. A bear, especially a grizzly, does not forgive familiarity (by the way, a grizzly is not at all separate view, as previously thought, but only a subspecies of the brown bear).

In 1979, the entire hunting press in the United States and Canada wrote about an unusual incident. On September 29, 1979, in the San Juan Mountains, Colorado, a local professional hunter, Ed Wiseman, was attacked by a grizzly bear. Ed that day accompanied a group of amateurs who hunted deer with a bow. Such hunting has just become fashionable in the USA. At some point, the hunters dispersed and Ed was left alone for several minutes. The bear suddenly appeared from behind a rock 15 m from Ed and immediately rushed to the attack. Ed didn't have time to do anything. His only weapon was a bow and arrows. The bear kicked them out and knocked Ed off his feet. Ed chose to remain completely still. Sometimes it saves - you never know what angered the bear. But he was not saved. Grizzly began to torment left leg Ed. The hunter pulled his legs up to his stomach, pressed his hands to him, protecting the most vulnerable spot. The bear left his leg and began to chew on his shoulder. Then he dragged Ed for more than 10 yards for him, threw and grabbed his arm. Losing consciousness from pain, Ed realized: you need to defend yourself! With his free left hand, he fumbled around and felt for a thin arrow from a bow - a ridiculous weapon against grizzlies! Ed desperately squeezed the arrow and, with his last fading strength, hit the bear with the point in the neck. Fortunately for him, in his youth he worked as a slaughterer and remembered where to strike ...

For a while, the grizzly tormented him, ignoring the blood gushing from his neck. Then he suddenly left the man and walked away. He stood in front of Ed for a few minutes, then staggered and fell. The carcass twitched several times and fell silent. The grizzly was dead… Ed was found by the hunters looking for him and taken to the hospital. He suffered severe injuries to his leg, shoulder and right hand but he survived. The animal he killed turned out to be a female, very old, weak and emaciated from hunger - a trivial reason for attacking a person.

So the problem of the grizzly today is difficult. Tourists, of course, want to see bears that are not afraid of humans. But reverence must be preserved - otherwise tragedies occur. It's hard to keep a balance in this kind of thing. In national parks, grizzlies are protected and even try to settle in other US states, where bears were previously aimlessly exterminated. On the other hand, in Yellowstone Park, grizzlies have multiplied so much that since 1980 seasonal hunting for them has been allowed here.

The bear is one of the largest mammals. He is the hero of the epic, fairy tales and legends. You can see a brown bear in the zoo, but to see a grizzly bear you have to go to the Americas.

That's how it's called brown bear subspecies living in North America. The distribution area of ​​\u200b\u200bthis animal refers to Alaska and the western regions of Canada. In the United States, the bear is found in the famous Yellowstone Nature Reserve, in Montana and in the northwestern part of Washington.

In fact, today it is not known for certain which bear should be called "grizzly". Most often this is what the mainland American race is called.

Many researchers believe that the grizzly is better known as the North American Brown bear(its other name), a separate species living in the depths of the North American mainland, as well as on Cape Kodiak.

The very first mention of the grizzly dates back to 1784, when the English naturalist Thomas Pennant first wrote about him. Although the scientist himself did not see the animal either alive or even dead, he compiled a description of the grizzly, guided by data taken from the hiking records of American pioneers.

In 1806, during the exploration of new territories by General Zebulon Pike, two grizzly bear cubs were presented to the American society, which the military hurried to present to the then President Thomas Jefferson.

The grizzly was described again as early as 1815 as a "terrible bear".

Since 1967, "grizzlies" have been the name for all large-sized bears living in Alaska.

Characteristics of the animal

According to the structure of its body, the grizzly is very similar to its East Siberian relative. Such a bear has a very impressive large size - from 450 kilograms and above. He prefers to live on the coast and mostly eats salmon fish. Those individuals that are found in the forest are vegetarians and scavengers.

The size of the animal, the color of its coat and lifestyle determine the conditions in which it constantly resides.

Relationship with a person

The American pioneers, who described the grizzly as a severe and ferocious animal, constantly thirsting for human blood, clearly embellished their stories, as a result of which people had misconception about a bear.

A bear will never consider a person as its potential prey, unless this very person openly attacks him, or the animal does not experience severe hunger.

Farmers throughout the 19th century, as well as at the very beginning of the 20th century, actively exterminated the grizzly population, thereby trying, according to them, to protect their livestock from attacks. Many animals were killed as a trophy.

Grizzlies are currently protected by the US federal government, modern animals mostly live in national parks.

Brown or common bear called a carnivorous animal large sizes belonging to the bear family.

In ancient times, the brown bear lived throughout the European continent, and it could also be seen in a number of Asian countries (China, Japan).

Today it is found in the Scandinavian countries (Scandinavia, Norway), in the western part of Europe (Pyrenees, Alps, Apennines), in Finland, the Carpathians, Russia, Japan, China, the Korean Peninsula and so on. In Finland, this animal has the status of a sacred one.

To date, there are about 80 subspecies of this animal, among which the most famous are:

1. Appeninsky.
2. Tien Shan.
3. Japanese.
4. Kodiak.
5. Tibetan and so on.

Appearance of a brown bear

Brown bear weight varies from 400 tons(smallest specimens) kilogram up to 1000 kilograms(larger animals). Males are always about 1.5 times larger than females.

The bear has a powerful body with a huge muzzle, on which relatively small ears and eyes are located. The tail of the animal is small in size, only about 65 - 210 millimeters, so it is not very visible because of the thick hair. The bear has huge powerful paws with five fingers, at the ends of which there are long (up to 10 centimeters) non-retractable claws. The coat of the animal is evenly colored, thick.

The color of a brown bear can vary not only within different parts distribution area, but also within the same area of ​​​​residence. Fur color can be light fawn, brown, black, grayish white.

The bear sheds only once a year, this period lasts from spring to autumn.

lifestyle

The bear is considered forest dweller: in Russia he prefers to settle in forest areas where windbreaks predominate, in Europe - in mountain forests, in North and South America - on the coast and in open areas (tundra), as well as in alpine meadows.

What do grizzlies and brown bears have in common?

• The grizzly is a subspecies of the brown bear, in fact, they are the same animal.
• They eat the same food.

Differences

1. The grizzly bear lives primarily in North America.
2. You can see the hair on the grizzly's neck white color- collar.
3. The grizzly bear has large claws.
4. The brown bear found in Russia is much smaller than the grizzly, which can grow up to three meters in length.
5. The grizzly is more mobile than its brown counterpart.

One of the most large predators on the ground is a grizzly bear. Photos and videos of the North American giant confirm this - this clubfoot is a very large and strong beast.

The species of brown bears is distributed almost everywhere the globe. This species is represented by a huge variety of subspecies occupying a particular territory on our planet. The mainland of North America is inhabited by one of the varieties of brown bears - the grizzly bear. These "clubfoot" are representatives predatory mammals bear families and belong to.

Translated from Latin, the name of this bear, Horribilis, means "terrible" or "ferocious." But are grizzly bears really such terrible and treacherous creatures?

Appearance and origin of the name "grizzly"

Like all representatives, grizzlies have many similarities with their counterparts. external signs, but there are some differences. For example, the fur of a grizzly is slightly lighter than that of other representatives of the "brown" species. hallmark can be called significant big sizes. body length adult grizzlies reach from 220 to 280 centimeters, and the weight is about 500 kilograms. According to scientists, there were grizzlies that had a body up to four meters long!

Representatives of this subspecies of brown bears have very strong and strong jaws and powerful claws, which makes it very dangerous predator, with whom you do not really want to engage in a fight.

Grizzlies are the largest of the brown bears.

The coat has a special color: the hairs on the neck, abdominal part and shoulders are dark brown, and at the ends are painted in a light tone. From a distance it seems that the bear is gray-haired. This quality gave the name to the entire subspecies, because grizzly (grizzly) in English means “gray-haired”.

The habitat of "gray-haired" bears

Grizzlies occupy the territory of the Alaska Peninsula (USA), are found in the west of the state of Canada. Separate populations have survived in the north of Idaho (USA) - in the Rocky Mountains, in the western part of Montana and northwestern Wyoming. In addition, they are found in the mountains of Washington state.

Grizzly behavior in nature

The lifestyle is very similar to the common brown bear. These are solitary animals. In the cold season, grizzlies also hibernate. Young grizzly bears freely climb trees. But adult bears - excellent swimmers.

Grizzlies are wonderful swimmers. Moreover, they settle near rivers and swamps, where you can swim and fish.

Grizzlies are excellent fishermen, but they can boast not only this skill: with the same ease they ruin bee hives and feast on sweet honey.

From natural places Habitat chooses swamps and river banks.

What does a ferocious grizzly eat?

Despite the fact that representatives of this subspecies are predators, their main food is, nevertheless, vegetation. Truth can be used animal food: fish, meat of wild animals. Hunting for big game is carried out only by rare individuals.

Breeding in North American Grizzlies

A she-bear gives birth to from 1 to 3 cubs. Grizzly mom is very caring and affectionate ... in relation to her bears.

AT last month spring begins for these bears mating season. Males arrange real fights for the female they like. However, this does not prevent the she-bear from mating with several males.

A bear's pregnancy lasts about 6-8 months. At the end of this time, usually two or three cubs are born. Babies are born deaf and blind. Their height is only 25 centimeters, and they weigh no more than half a kilogram. Only mother brings up “babies”, fathers-bears do not do this.

Domain: eukaryotes

Kingdom: Animals

Type of: chordates

Class: mammals

Squad: Predatory

Family: bearish

Genus: The Bears

View: Brown bear

Subspecies: Grizzly

Habitat

Grizzly bear, common in the Americas:

• Alaska;
• Canada;
• Montana (Yellowstone);
• Northwest Washington;

They migrated from Asia to North America, according to some sources, fifty thousand years ago, according to others, a hundred thousand years ago. The bear population has drastically declined over the past century.

According to official data, in 2000 there were about 250 of them, and by 2005, 600 individuals. The gray grizzly bear lives in the dense forests of North America. Leads a secretive lifestyle, under the cover of night can visit nearby farms. Each predatory individual marks its territory, scratches tree trunks with huge non-retractable claws and leaves noticeable marks on them.

Grizzly's appearance

In size and appearance, the Grizzly is very similar to the Siberian brown bear. He is also very strong, massive and fearsome. Grizzly is distinguished by long claws, which help him to be an excellent hunter. Despite this, the beast is not able to climb trees.

The growth of the Grizzly can reach from 2.5 to 4 meters. It's scary to even imagine such a huge beast. How much does a grizzly bear weigh? The average body weight is about 500 kilograms. A very large individual can weigh up to 1 ton. Female gray bears usually weigh less.

The Grizzly has a very well developed musculature, the body is strong and densely covered with fur. The color is mostly brown, the back and shoulder blades may be gray. If you look at the beast from afar, it may seem that it is completely gray. Therefore, it bears such a name, since in translation from English "Grizzly" means "Gray".

The head of the beast is powerful, with small round ears. The muzzle is elongated, the nose is black, the eyes are small. The jaws are well developed, the teeth are strong.

Behavior and lifestyle

The brown bear is active more often at dusk, in the mornings and evenings, but on rainy days it wanders throughout the day. Daytime vigil is typical for a bear in the mountains of Siberia. The seasonal cycle of life is pronounced.

Bears are very sensitive, they navigate the terrain mainly with the help of hearing and smell, their eyesight is poor. Brown bears can smell rotting meat from more than 2.5 km away.

Although the bear's body mass is large and it seems clumsy, in fact it is a silent, fast and easy-to-move animal. The bear runs extremely fast - with the agility of a good horse - at speeds of over 55 km/h. He swims well, can swim 6 km and even more, and bathes willingly, especially in hot weather. In his youth, the brown bear climbs trees well, but in old age he does it reluctantly, although it cannot be said that he loses this ability completely. In deep snow, however, it is difficult to move.

When meeting with a dangerous opponent, the bear lets out a loud roar, stands on its hind legs and tries to knock down the enemy with blows from its front paws or grab it.
For the winter, looking for a den, bears can go far from their summer site.

The brown bear is a sedentary animal and only the young, having separated from the family, roam until they create their own family. Individual hunting areas are large and larger for males than for females. The bear marks and defends the boundaries of the plots. In summer, male bears mark the boundaries of the territory, standing on their hind legs and tearing off the bark from trees with their claws. Such "boundary trees" are used different animals decades. In the treeless mountains, the bear tears up any suitable objects - clay slopes or tourist tents (usually in the absence of the owners). To secure the tent, the easiest way to mark the border of your site is by urinating in several places at a distance of 10-20 meters around the camp. The boundaries are not respected only during the ripening of oats and on the eve of hibernation.

In summer, the bear settles down for a rest, lying down directly on the ground among grass, bushes or in moss, if only the place is secluded and safe enough.
In autumn, the animal has to take care of a reliable shelter for the winter period until mid-spring.

Depending on climatic and other conditions, bears are in dens from October-November to March-April and later, that is, approximately 5-6 months. She-bears with cubs live the longest in dens, and old males live least of all. In different areas winter dream lasts from 75 to 195 days a year.

For a lair, a bear chooses the most reliable, deaf and dry corners, somewhere on an island of forest in the middle of a vast moss swamp. The animal sometimes comes here for several tens of kilometers and, approaching the target, in every possible way confuses the tracks. Sometimes bears have favorite wintering places, and they gather here from the whole district. So, once in Russia, 12 lairs were discovered on a plot of about 20 hectares.

Very often dens are located in pits under the protection of windbreak or roots. fallen trees. In some areas, animals dig deep lairs in the ground, and in the mountains they occupy caves and rock crevices. Often, bears are limited to open lying in dense spruce young growth, near a tree or even in an open meadow, dragging a bunch of moss there and spruce branches in the form of a large nest. Sometimes a bear arranges a lair right in an open anthill of red forest ants. Pregnant female bears arrange deeper, spacious and warmer dens than males do. The bear lines the finished den with moss, dry grass, pine needles, leaves and hay. Over time, the lair is covered with snow from above, so that only a small ventilation hole (brow) remains, the edges of which are in very coldy covered with frost.

Grizzly bear food and prey

The grizzly hunts, as a rule, on large or medium-sized mammals. Prey predatory bear moose often become, as well as deer and sheep.

A significant part of the diet is represented by fish, including salmon and trout. Among other things, bears eat wild birds different types and their eggs, as well as various rodents.

As a plant food, the grizzly prefers to use pine nuts, various tuber and berry crops. An important part of the grizzly's diet is represented by meat, so the predator can prey on such animals as marmots, ground squirrels, lemmings and voles. most big booty grizzlies are considered bison and elk, as well as whale carcasses thrown onto the coastal zone, sea ​​lions and seals.

To feast on the honey of wild bees, the grizzly easily overturns an adult tree, after which it completely destroys the nest of insects.

Approximately three-quarters of the diet consists of plant foods in the form of blueberries, blackberries, raspberries and cranberries. After the glaciers come down, the bears raid the fields with various legumes. In very hungry years, the animal gets close to the dwelling of a person, where livestock can become its prey. Attract wild beast can also be landfills with food waste located near tourist campsites and tent camps.

reproduction

These bears lead a solitary lifestyle. Only in coastal areas do they gather in groups near streams, lakes and rivers during salmon spawning. Females produce offspring once a year. In the litter most often there are 2 bear cubs. They weigh about 500 g. Grizzly bears have extremely low reproduction. Sexual maturity occurs at the age of 5 years. Females become pregnant in the summer and delay the implantation of the embryo until hibernation. If the female did not eat well in the summer, then a miscarriage may result.

The cubs are near the mother for 2 years, and all this time she does not mate. The period between births can be 3 years or more. It all depends on the conditions environment. The gestation period for these bears is 180-250 days. Bear cubs are always born in the winter in a den when the mother is in a sleeping state. Newborns feed on mother's milk until summer, and in warm time years, in addition to milk, they begin to consume solid food.

AT wild nature The grizzly bear lives 22-26 years. Females live longer than males by an average of 4 years. This is explained by the fact that males take part in mating duels, which sometimes end in the death of one of the rivals. In captivity, these bears live up to 40 and even up to 44 years. In the wild, the oldest recorded clubfoot carnivore lived to be 39 years old.

grizzly and man

In terms of lifestyle, this bear is very similar to our bear and is also prone to hibernation. Grizzly lives in the mountain valleys and forests of Canada, British Columbia and Yukon, but today their population is very small. And all due to the fact that in the last century there was an increased extermination of these animals.

Firstly, there were cases of attacks by injured animals on people in their own homes. And secondly, people were afraid for their pets, although the grizzly never attacked livestock. At one time, a premium was relied on for the head of each killed grizzly. There were more and more bear hunters, and less and less grizzlies themselves.

People said that he was not afraid of a person, on the contrary, he went straight at him, whether he was on horseback or on foot, armed or unarmed, whether he offended him or not. However, this is not at all the case. Every bear that smells a person or sees him from afar will try to run away from him in time. He also has a habit, when he wants to rest, to confuse his trail, making rounds back or to the side, and lie down so that he can see or smell the approach of his pursuer from afar.

But still, a person should beware of the grizzly. The danger of the grizzly is that he has poorly developed sense organs, especially vision. As already mentioned, people are not included in his diet, but he can easily attack a person, confusing him with some other animal. Grizzly, without hesitation, attacks if it seems that he is in danger.

Wounded animals attack more often, but here their aggression can be justified by the desire to desperately defend themselves. Females and males also aggressively attack when their cubs are in danger. In 1987, in the reserve of Canada, a grizzly killed 2 women who met a bear cub in the forest and decided to play with it.

1. Most scientists and zoologists agree that people themselves are somehow to blame for all collisions with bears. In the wild, a bear will always bypass a person. Some tourists who try to feed the bears. Those get used to it and themselves begin to come to tourist tents and roads. Such an insolent bear quickly loses its fear of humans. If the treat seemed not enough to him or it was not to his taste, he can get angry and attack.
2. When attacked, grizzlies are advised to play dead. To do this, you should curl up in a ball, pulling your knees to your stomach, arms clasping your neck.
3. All bears are flat-footed: the sole and heel of the foot touch the ground equally. On each paw they have five long curved claws, with which the bear is equally good at digging the ground (or ice) and coping with prey.
4. Even after receiving several bullets, the angry bear continued to attack, and the hunters did not always manage to escape - except to have time to climb a tree or jump into a boat. Hard times came for grizzlies when farmers flooded the North American prairies. Grizzlies began to shoot intensively to protect livestock from them. Although they attacked livestock very rarely. There was a prize for the head of each bear.
5. In ancient times, grizzlies were the full masters of the American mountains and forests. They did not know any competitors and rivals, except for each other. Therefore, grizzlies were very self-confident and often even attacked people if they were disturbed or if they believed that they were being disturbed. In all Indian tribes, defeating a grizzly was considered a feat.
6. The size of newborns: the length of the body of a newborn bear cub is one tenth the length of the body of its mother.
7. For comparison: the height of a newborn child is almost a third of the height of an adult.
8. Grizzly, very controversial. Taiga fishermen, as well as hunters, claim that this animal is absolutely unpredictable. It is absolutely impossible to guess how he will behave at a meeting, what will scare him, and what, on the contrary, will make him angry.
9. Archaeological excavations have shown that the first bears; appeared in Europe 13 million years ago.
10. The paws of the bear are very wide with strong blunt claws. They serve for catching fish and self-protection. With one blow of the paw, the bear kills an animal of the same size as itself.
11. "Grizzle" means "gray" in English.
12. The most famous of these bears was a huge grizzly named Old Moses. For a full 35 years - from 1869 to 1904 - this bear terrorized a huge area in the state of Colorado. During this time, he broke 800 heads of cattle, not counting calves and small animals, and killed at least five people who tried to shoot him. But he himself never attacked a person if he was not touched.
13. Eyewitnesses said that Old Moses even had a peculiar sense of humor - he liked to chip off purely bearish jokes. More than once, for example, he arranged such a number: he sneaked up imperceptibly to the fires of travelers or gold diggers and suddenly burst into the camp with a roar, scattering everything in his path. But he never hurt anyone unless they tried to shoot at him. He was simply pleased to see how people, scared to death, screaming in fear, rushed to save themselves in the trees.
14. After putting things in order and reminding who was the boss, Old Moses peacefully retired away.
15. Although at first glance the grizzly seems clumsy, it can run 50-100 meters at the speed of a galloping horse, so the animals rarely manage to get away from it.
16. According to the latest data, there are 5,000 grizzly bears in Canada and Alaska, less than 300 in the United States. For comparison: at the beginning of the last century, from eighty to one hundred thousand bears lived in North America.

Video