It's That Time of Bear, er, Year Again!

Each year, Defenders celebrates some of America’s most iconic creatures during  Bear Awareness Week. And this year, we’re kicking it off with a species spotlight: grizzlies!

The slightly weathered appearance of this bear’s fur earned it the name “grizzly” back in the day.  At seven feet long and as much as 850 pounds, however, the grizzly bear is no shrinking violet. It can run as fast as 35 mph and smell food from miles away – putting those hound dogs to shame. A big muscular hump on its shoulders (which distinguishes it from a black bear) adds power for running and strength for digging. Grizzlies dig to create dens for winter hibernation, but also to find food.

Interestingly, the mighty grizzly bear also functions as the gardener in its forest and meadow home. Digging for food naturally tills the soil, which benefits the plants nearby. Undigested seeds from consumed fruit are spread freely through the bear’s waste. And salmon carcasses carried into forests decay and add important nutrients back into the soil – grizzly compost!

Grizzlies eat just about everything: grasses, seeds (esp. whitebark pine nuts), fruits, insects, fish, carrion… and even caribou. They also need to eat a lot in order to build up enough fat reserves (up to three pounds a day) to sustain them through hibernation, which lasts from five to eight months.

In case you missed it…

The New York Times must have Bear Awareness Week on its calendar! In a feature that ran yesterday called, “Where the Wild Things Are,” a piece by Ted O’Callahan focuses on a the bears of Kodiak Island. Click here to read “It’s a Bear’s World. Visitors Welcome” and learn more about the unique cousin to the grizzly.

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