
Grizzly bears also live in Canada and the U.S. The state is home to an estimated 30,000 brown bears, or about 95% of the total population, according to the Pacific Grove Museum of Natural History. The vast majority of North American brown bears, which includes most grizzly bears, live in Alaska. Related: Woman killed in unusual grizzly bear attack Where do grizzly bears live? In this scenario, the bear sees humans as prey, the NPS says. People who are in a tent when attacked by any bear, or stalked and then attacked, should not play dead and should instead immediately fight back. Victims of black bear attacks should try to escape or fight back if no escape is possible. The NPS advice differs for black bear attacks: During a black bear attack, it is never advisable to play dead. However, you should fight back vigorously if the attack persists by striking the bear in the face with anything available to you, according to the NPS.

Grizzlies usually attack with greater intensity if you fight back, so it's best to stay still until the bear leaves you alone. Bear behavior can be unpredictable, and there isn't a strategy to deal with bear attacks that will work in every situation.Īccording to the NPS, if attacked by a grizzly or brown bear, you should leave your backpack on (if you have one) and play dead by lying flat on your stomach with your hands clasped on the back of your neck and legs spread - this makes it harder for the bear to turn you over. The NPS recommends that people keep their distance from bears, make an effort to be noticeable when in a bear's environment and avoid surprising them. The same records show that black bears have killed 78 people and polar bears have killed 11 people during the same period. and Canada since 1900, according to the Florida Museum of Natural History. Brown bears have killed 84 people in the U.S. However, bears do sometimes attack and kill humans. Grizzly bears typically avoid people unless they perceive them as a threat to their cubs, food or territory. (Image credit: Shutterstock ) Are grizzly bears dangerous? Grizzly bears are one of the main predators of mountain goats. Brown bears also have longer and straighter claws that leave marks in tracks more often than black bear claws do. Furthermore, grizzly bears have dish-shaped faces and short, round ears, while black bears have straight faces and taller, more oval-shaped ears, according to the NPS. Black bears lack a hump, and their rumps are higher than their shoulders. All brown bears, including grizzly bears, have a pronounced shoulder hump that is higher than their rump. This wide variation in size and coat color means that these two features alone aren't surefire ways to tell grizzly bears apart from American black bears ( Ursus americanus), which are typically smaller and darker - but not always.Ī more reliable method to distinguish grizzly bears from black bears is to look at a bear's body shape and tracks. Grizzly bears’ coat color can be anything from blond to black, according to the National Park Service. Grizzlies are smaller than Kodiak bears and polar bears, which can both stand more than 10 feet (3 m) tall.

Males are heavier than females and weigh up to 860 pounds (390 kilograms), while females weigh up to 455 pounds (205 kg). Grizzly bears are typically 3 to 5 feet (0.9 to 1.5 meters) tall at the shoulder when standing on all fours and can reach almost 9 feet (2.7 m) tall when standing on their hind legs. Regardless of how the name is used, all grizzly bears are members of the only brown bear species. According to the NWF, many North Americans use "grizzly bear" to describe smaller and lighter-colored bears that live in interior areas, and "brown bear" for larger and darker bears in coastal areas. "Grizzly bear" is a common (rather than a scientific) name, so it doesn’t necessarily correspond to a specific subspecies. These grizzlies inhabited California until humans wiped them out in the 1920s, according to the Pacific Grove Museum of Natural History in California. For example, the Integrated Taxonomic Information System (ITIS) recognizes eight brown bear subspecies in North America, including extinct California grizzly bears ( Ursus arctos californicus). Grizzly bears can be grouped together under the subspecies Ursus arctos horribilis, but some sources recognize multiple subspecies.
