Friday, April 22, 2011

Bear with me


The grizzly bear is a subspecies of brown bear. They are normally solitary, active animals, but in coastal areas, the grizzly congregates alongside streams, lakes, rivers and ponds.


The Grizzly bears are generally larger and heavier than other bears. The average weight of Grizzly bears is generally 400 to 600 pounds for males and 250 to 350 pounds for females. They are long lived mammals and generally live to be around 25 years old.



In Spring, the Grizzly bear moves to low elevation areas, out of the snow, to feed on young, green vegetation. It includes winter-killed animals, ants, grasses and sedges, cow parsnip, and other plants. 


In Summer, the Grizzly bears continue to eat forbs, dig for roots and tubers, and excavate insects, such as ants and grubs. Common summer food are mushrooms, moths and bison calves. 


In Fall, the Grizzly bear eats berries, whitebark and limber pine nuts, insect nests, and starch tubers and roots to build up fat reserves before winter hibernation. 








Sample food chain


Grizzly bear -> salmon -> tiny shrimp -> algae 





The main cause of the Grizzly bear having their status as endangered is currently being blamed on global warming causing the loss of white bark pine nuts, which are high in calories. 


People hunt and kill them purposely to protect their land, farm and live stock. Also, there is loss of habitat. As human population increases, the piece of land where they usually live and breed shrinks to a smaller portion. 








Grizzly bears has a low reproductive rate. The female grizzly bear only gives birth when they're five to seven years old and, she breeds at three- to four-year intervals - also one of the reasons why it's endangered. 






Grizzly bears live in the Rock mountains all the way to northwestern Canada and Alaska. They prefer open country such as the Great Plains and Arctic tundra, but will also use woodlands and mountain environments. 






the Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks Foundation has raise more than a million dollars for grizzly bear management, research and conservation in Montana. The goal of their project is to 2 or 3 female grizzly bears per year to the Cabinet Mountains. 


We can help to conserve grizzly bears by donating to such association :-) 






Here are my sources:




http://knightofswords.files.wordpress.com/2011/03/grizzly1.jpg?w=196&h=300
http://www.bear.org/website/images/stories/images/HWB_800x600/HWB_Slide41_FS.jpg
http://weheartit.com/entry/6322928
http://www.knowswhy.com/why-are-grizzly-bears-endangered/
http://wiki.answers.com/Q/How_are_Grizzly_bears_an_endangered_species
http://wiki.answers.com/Q/Where_is_the_grizzly_bear's_habitat
http://weheartit.com/entry/7719274
http://blog-images.microscopesblog.com/uploaded_images/Algae-768906.jpg
http://www.fws.gov/mountain-prairie/species/mammals/grizzly/grizz_foods.pdf
http://www.defenders.org/wildlife_and_habitat/wildlife/grizzly_bear.php
http://www.edu.pe.ca/southernkings/grizzly.htm
http://www.landscape-photo.net/albums/Lakes-rivers-waterfalls/normal_nature-lake-river-and-waterfalls-plitvice-croatia-11.jpg
http://allin1pedia.allin1dot.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/08/Grizzly-Bear1.jpg
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grizzly_bear
http://weheartit.com/entry/3461349

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