Grizzly/Brown Bears

Consider now the Grizzly Bear, there’s information I could share
About this noble, fearsome beast, of which we used to know the least
Of any mammal of its, size, carnivorous or otherwise.

Let’s classify the Grizzly Bear, because you know we really care,
Its Latin name is sure to thrill us, Ursus arctos horribilis,
It isn’t every day you see the Grizzly Bear’s taxonomy.

The western US, most of that, was its historic habitat,
Look at a map and you can see the Grizzly Bear’s geography,
Today the range in which it mates is limited to just four States.

That doesn’t count Alaska though, or Canada, just States below,
Montana has the most, you know, but Washington and Idaho,
Also Wyoming have a few, besides the San Diego Zoo.

One hundred thousand used to roam and call the western US home,
Now only one percent or less live in the lower west US,
And they’re no longer everywhere that used to host the Grizzly Bear.

The problem all across the nation is encroached civilization,
Now people play and houses go on spaces the Grizzly used to know,
The bear must now get by with less, in forests, parks and wilderness.

You ask, “What does the Grizzly eat?’ Just anything, let me repeat,
The Grizzly’s never known to fuss ‘bout food ‘cause he’s omnivorous,
There’s grass and berries, grubs a treat, and carrion, all kinds of meat.

Another Grizzly food is fish; it’s just about his favorite dish,
There’s ants and pine nuts, roots and bark, a ground squirrel and a meadowlark,
And if it has a putrid smell, the Bear enjoys it very well.

That’s why when garbage is around, or dug up from beneath the ground,
The Grizzly gets an easy meal, which constitutes a crummy deal,
For we should not, a Bear so great, with human food, habituate.

Sometimes a band of wooly sheep will tempt a Grizzly Bear to leap
Upon a lamb, perhaps a ewe, and thus enjoy a feast or two,
Sheep ranchers then may have to change to country out of Grizzly range.

When walking in the woods, take care, you may not see the Grizzly Bear,
So, whistle, sing or ring a bell; make lots of noise so they can tell
There’s people that they might avoid, but crowd their space, they’ll be annoyed.

They may attack if you’re too near, or bluff a charge to make you fear,
So stand your ground or maybe fall and roll yourself into a ball,
But one thing that you must beware: “You can’t outrun a Grizzly Bear!”

And when you camp where Grizzlies live, take extra care that you don’t give
Them easy access to your food; you’ll find the Bear extremely rude
And most aggressive to procure whatever that you don’t secure.

So hang your food away up high, but never pitch your tent nearby,
Don’t go to bed in clothes you wear to cook, because the Grizzly Bear
May sniff you out, because his nose detects the smell of food on clothes.

Grizzlies eat all summer season huge amounts and here’s the reason:
They must build up thick fat store, because for five long months or more,
Though it is hard to contemplate, they neither eat nor defecate.

As winter comes, the Bear will crave to dig a small and cozy cave,
Grizzlies practice hibernation; sows complete their odd gestation,
So cubs or born inside the dens, and bare and blind, their lives begin.

This tiny runt without much hair, you’d scarce believe a Grizzly Bear,
But they find mama’s warmth and milk, until their coats are smooth as silk,
They venture out one fine spring day, with mama showing them the way.

In fact, she teaches them it all, from early spring until late fall,
And then they dig another den, and sleep all winter long again,
The season when the cubs are two, their time with mama is all through.

And she hunts up a handsome boar, or he finds her, I’m not quite sure,
In any case, they mate in spring, and then takes place the strangest thing,
Just like suspended animation, it’s called, “delayed implantation.”

Which means, although the sow’s gestation takes two months, a strange gyration,
The tiny embryos don’t grow, until her den is under snow,
So, while in spring the two Bears mate, the pregnancy is five months late.

Grizzly Bears are solitary, all alone and always wary
Of people, even other bears, and so he rarely ever shares
His food and/or his favorite places, doesn’t care to see new faces.

It was in nineteen seventy-three, that Congress, though not all agree,
Produced a most important pact, call the Endangered Species Act,
And Grizzlies, to complete the story, are in a “threatened” category.

And so, recovery is the goal, and many actors play a role,
Their fate is up to you and me, with guidance from the IGBC,
Let’s show the world we really care, and let’s conserve the Grizzly Bear!

Provided with kind permission from Stan Tixier, cowboy poet and second chairman of the Interagency Grizzly Bear Committee ,IGBC, (1985-1987).

The Woodland Park Zoo celebrated the fourth annual Bear Affair day on Saturday , April 5th. The day began with Zoo staff hosting a behind the scenes tour to a group of 40 folks invited by GBOP to get an opportunity to meet the 950 pound grizzly brothers, Denali and Keema, up close and personal. The bears have a profound impression on everyone they meet. The group was also treated to a tour and overview of the wolf compound.

Later that morning an unsafe campsite was setup in their compound. The bears enthusiaticly demostrated what bears do to a camp left unattended and full of food. Its amazing to watch the systematic search for items hidden in tents, sleeping bags and coolers. This year a raft was placed in their swimming area. Inside was a tasty salmon.

In the afternoon items which might atteact bears to your home were placed in their compound. Included were a greasy grill, bird food feeder and two types of garbage containers. This photo says it all. The normal garbage container was destroyed in less than 30 seconds. However, the bear resistant garbage container withstood repeated assaults by both bears and remained intact. If you live in bear country, this is definitely the type of container you need. This container is a product of UnBearable Bins.

The crowd loved the demonstration almost as much as the bears loved putting on a show. Afterward they were ready for a nap.

A news crew from King 5 TV was on hand to cover the event. They ran a segment on the evening news which highlighted the need to avoid attracting bears and creating a conflict scenerio. The segment included the bear which closed the Puyallup park for a weekend. You can view the on air segment at the KING 5 website. Harriet Allen, Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife, gave two talks on wolf issues faced by the state during the day. All the events were attended by large crowds.

Many thanks to the Zoo staff for the flawless execution of an eventful day.

Woodland Park Zoo and GBOP are hosting the annual Bear Affair Day on Saturday, April 5th.

Also join Chris Morgan, bear biologist, director of the Grizzly Bear Outreach Project and Producer of the feature documentary BEARTREK at the downtown Seattle REI on Wednesday, April 16th beginning at 7 pm.

On April 5th Woodland Park Zoo staff will give presentations at the various bear and wolf exhibits. REI and GBOP will set up a non-safe camp in the Grizzly Bear exhibit so that you can see what happens when bears encounter a camp full of food. A limited number of free WPZ tickets and behind the scene tour opportunities are available.

Contact Dennis Ryan at dryan@methow.com to sign up.

On April 16th travel from Spitzbergen to Spain, and learn how bears have struck the human imagination for thousands of years. On our own doorstep, the North American grizzly bear has garnered its fair share of acclaiming folklore. From old campfire tales to the film, Grizzly Man, accounts of the grizzly’s power, strength and grace have inspired curiosity and fear.

Come learn the truth about the elusive North Cascades grizzly bear as well as bears in wild locations like Spain, Canada, Pakistan, Ecuador, and Svalbard. REI is proud to welcome Chris Morgan, bear biologist, filmmaker, and director of the Grizzly Bear Outreach Project (GBOP). Chris will present a stunning, highly entertaining slide show demystifying the North Cascades grizzly bear, and it’s cousins further afield. Chris Morgan has worked internationally as a biologist and educator for the last twenty years and will share his expert knowledge on bear ecology and conservation.

This will also be among the first opportunities to see footage from the feature-length documentary film ‘BEARTREK’ – a quest that that follows his global motorcycle adventure to the wildest places on the planet in search of unusual bear species and exotic cultures. In 2006, The Grizzly Bear Outreach Project received a grant from REI for their ongoing education efforts.

Chris Morgan, GBOP Director

The endangered brown bear, which once roamed the forests of Europe, is showing signs of recovery in one of its remaining strongholds, the Cantabrian mountains of Spain.

Small colonies of brown bears are increasing in the craggy northern cordillera of Asturias and Cantabria. After being menaced by illegal hunters and the encroaching infrastructure of tourism, numbers of fertile females have doubled in the past decade and traces of bear activity have tripled in the last two years.

A colony of 100 bears is thought to inhabit the west of the region, with another smaller colony of about 30 to the east. The reclusive animals are still on the endangered list and their long-term survival remains under threat because the number of animals remains small despite reproduction becoming consolidated in recent years.

“We would like to establish a corridor between the separate colonies to increase the bears’ genetic diversity and reproductive velocity, and thereby their chances of survival,” said Guillermo Palomero, head of the Santander-based Brown Bear Foundation (Fundacion Oso Pardo). “That is the only sure way of protecting them from becoming extinct.”

A joint study by the foundation and Spain’s environment ministry based on 16 years of observation of the bears in their natural habitat strongly recommends trying to establish a connection between the colonies, which are 30 miles apart, to safeguard the local population. While brown bear numbers have been boosted in the Pyrenees by importing animals from Slovenia, this is not an option “because Cantabria’s brown bears are a pure species unique in Europe,” Mr Palomero said.

The revival is partly due to more effective control of illegal hunters, or furtivos, who now face two years in jail and a fine of up to €300,000 (£230,000) for the “ecological crime” of killing a bear.

“Furtivos still exist. There may be fewer huntsmen with guns, but more traps and poison are laid for wolves and wild boars. They still do a lot of damage,” said Mr Palomero. “Collaboration between the authorities and voluntary organisations has been crucial in consolidating bear populations during 2007. We mustn’t drop our guard or cry victory too soon.

“The turning point was when we realised the importance of groups of females with their young cubs. While the males roam across country, the mother and her cubs stay within a defined area. We must protect them in their habitat, because they are the guarantee of the future.”

Ursine history was made in the winter of 2006 when the foundation revealed that Cantabria’s brown bears had stopped hibernating. The region’s winters had become warmer in recent years, enabling the bears to forage for enough food all year round.

Bears are well known for their propensity to slumber through the winter to the point of biological shutdown. But their behaviour went through a revolutionary change when female brown bears with young cubs found enough nuts, acorns, chestnuts and berries on Spain’s bleak northern mountainsides to make the effort of staying awake and hunting for food “energetically worthwhile”.

By Elizabeth Nash in Madrid
Thursday, 28 February 2008

Photo: This could well be the most recent grizzly bear sighting in the North Cascades. Proving it is another matter. Photo by Pat Lathrop.

Look at the picture above very carefully. You’re looking at a family of bears crossing a glacier in the North Cascades mountains in the summer of 2006. But are they black bears or grizzly bears? That’s the million dollar question. The picture was submitted to me by Pat Lathrop who, while hiking the Glacier Peak Wilderness came across this amazing site with a friend. As he raised the binoculars to his eyes he knew the significance of what he was witnessing. Without saying a word, he quietly handed his binoculars to his hiking companion and asked, “What do you think they are?”. His friend replied, “Wow – it’s a family of grizzly bears!”. This is how Pat relayed the story to me as we spoke on the phone. He explained that he had been to one of my slide shows several years earlier at REI and that he therefore understood how important a sighting like this was. Pat has seen many bears – both grizzly and black, in other parts of North America, and he was personally “one hundred percent sure” that what he saw that day was a family of grizzly bears crossing the glacier from one valley to the next. When he handed the binoculars to his friend he didn’t want to influence his response, so he kept quiet. His friend’s reaction only further convinced Pat that this was a very special moment.

The problem is follow-up. How do we prove that these were in fact grizzly bears? Of course the dots on the photograph can’t be used for verification, but what about trying to track them in the field? Looking for tracks is one option, but they are extremely tough to find. We can use remotely-triggered cameras, or even hair snags that capture a clump of DNA from the cpat of a passing bear. Even a pile of scat can yield DNA which would tell us if it was left behind by a black or grizzly bear. But when you consider that a female bear and yearlings might cover 200-300 square miles as part of their regular home range, the problems of sighting verification become obvious.

When there are fewer than 20 grizzly bears left in the 10,000 square mile North Cascades ecosystem it is critical that any possible sighting is reported. We receive about 20 reports per year thanks to the very active GBOP field crew who are out there interacting with the public all year round, and thanks also to an online reporting system we’ve developed. However, my guess is that, on average, about 17 of these 20 sound like black bears that people have confused with grizzly bears (an easy thing to do when you consider that black and grizzly bears can have coats that are anything from blonde to black).

Please spread the word – if you see a North Cascades grizzly bear, let us know! (GBOP sighting report). For MUCH more information about bears in the cascades, go to our website: www.bearinfo.org

Chris Morgan, Bear ecologist, GBOP Director