The grizzly bear is one of the USA wildlife symbols. It is the North American subspecies of the brown bear. This large mammal is an aggressive predator with no natural enemies, which make it to be placed at the top of the food chain. Despite being big in size, they can be quite fast. Also, they need a lot of space to live, although they are normally seen alone. Their life expectancy is of an average twenty five years. Another interesting fact is that this species uses their extremely developed sense of smell to identify treats and to find food for themselves and for their family, which is constituted of a female and its cubs.

The grizzlies have a varied diet, including fruits, berries, leaves, nuts, fish, insects, honey, and roots. They are great at fishing, grabbing the fish with their big paws when they jump up river, or focusing on the fish swimming nearby so that they can jump on top of it, smashing the fish at the bottom of the river. The grizzly bear, like most bears, hibernate during winter and stock food during summer and fall. They dig dens that normally have nice views for the hibernation period. The female is much smaller than the male and reproduces every other year, having one to four cubs (they commonly have two offspring - twins).

In the past, the grizzlies were easily found in North America. Canada and the USA had large populations. The USA states of Montana, Wyoming, Colorado, Idaho, Washington, Oregon, California, Arizona, Alaska, New Mexico, Utah, North Dakota, South Dakota, Nebraska, Kansas, Nevada, Oklahoma, and Texas could claim the presence of the bear. However, after years and years of unlimited hunting, they can only be found in reserves, including the Yellowstone National Park, which are located mainly in Wyoming, Montana, Idaho, Washington, and in most of Alaska and Canada. As we can see, they are nearly extinct from the USA southwestern states. Nowadays, there are only about 1,000 bears in continental USA.

The Yellowstone National Park is the reserve where the largest population of grizzly bear can be found. The protection it offered this wildlife symbol helped to increase their numbers to an extent that the USA federal government is now considering that they don,t need the Endangered Species Act protection anymore. This polemic subject is causing a lot of reaction from those who think that removing the grizzlies from the endangered species list would cause the bear population to decrease again. So, taking into account all these facts, the future of the grizzly bear is yet to be seen.

The grizzly bear is one of the USA wildlife symbols. It is the North American subspecies of the brown bear. This large mammal is an aggressive predator with no natural enemies, which make it to be placed at the top of the food chain.

About the Author:
Lucien Oliveira is a freelance writer with strong interest nature and wildlife. You can find more about bears, grizzly bear and bear usa.