Grizzly bear
A big brown bear of the northern Rockies and Alaska, marked by a hump of muscle over its shoulders and long digging claws.
Grizzly bear at a glance
Ursus arctos horribilis GRIZ-lee; Ursus arctos horribilis is UR-suss ARK-toss hor-RIB-ih-liss
- Type
- Mammal · bear
- Diet
- Omnivore
- Size
- On all fours a grizzly's shoulders reach about waist-high on a grown-up (a hump about 3.5 feet / 1 m off the ground). An average adult male weighs about as much as two grown-ups together (around 413 pounds / 187 kg); females are smaller.
- Lifespan
- Around 20 to 30 years in the wild; the oldest known bear in the Greater Yellowstone area was 31.
- Conservation
- Threatened
Eats berries, pine nuts, roots, insects, elk calves, trout
A grizzly eats almost anything it can find — roots, berries, moths, spawning trout, and elk calves in spring. It uses those long front claws to dig up bulbs and tear apart logs, and before winter it may eat up to 30 pounds of food a day to build fat.
Should you worry?
A grizzly is one of the few animals you must give real room. Stay at least 100 yards away (about the length of a football field), never run, and hike in a group making noise so you don't surprise one. Carry bear spray with a grown-up, and always keep food locked away, because a bear that finds human food is the one that gets into trouble.
The way to know a grizzly is the hump. It sits over the shoulders, a mound of muscle that powers the long front claws, and it is the first thing to look for. A black bear doesn’t have one. Those claws are made for digging, not climbing: a grizzly turns over rocks and rips apart old logs to get at roots, bulbs, and insects.
A grizzly will eat almost anything the season offers. Spring is elk calves and fresh green shoots; summer is moths and roots; fall is berries and pine nuts, eaten by the mouthful. Before winter it may put away thirty pounds of food in a day, packing on the fat it will live off while it sleeps in a den it digs itself, four or five months without eating or drinking a thing.
You will probably never stand near a grizzly, and that is exactly how it should be. A healthy bear keeps its distance from people, and people keep their distance back: a hundred yards, no running, plenty of noise on the trail so you never round a bend into one by surprise. The food goes in a locked box or the car. A bear that never learns the taste of human food is a bear that gets to stay wild.
Did you know?
- You can tell a grizzly from a black bear by the hump of muscle over its shoulders and its long, straight claws, up to about 4 inches, built for digging, not climbing.
- Grizzly cubs stay with their mother about two and a half years, learning where the berries ripen and where to dig, before she sends them off on their own.
- Before winter a grizzly can eat up to 30 pounds of food in a single day, then sleep in a den it digs for four or five months without eating or drinking.
Common questions
Are grizzly bears dangerous to kids?
They can be, so this is one animal to take seriously. Stay at least 100 yards away, hike in a group, make noise so you never surprise one, and keep all food packed away. Most grizzlies want nothing to do with people.
What is the difference between a grizzly and a black bear?
A grizzly has a hump over its shoulders, a dished-in face, and long straight claws for digging. A black bear has no shoulder hump, a straighter snout, and short curved claws for climbing trees. Color does not tell you, since both come in brown.
What do grizzly bears eat?
Almost everything: berries, pine nuts, roots, insects, fish, and young elk. They spend the warm months eating as much as they can to get ready for winter.
Where do grizzly bears live?
In the United States they live in and around a few northern parks like Yellowstone, Grand Teton, and Glacier, and across much of Alaska, including Denali.