Grizzly Bear

The government's latest estimate of 718 bears in the Yellowstone area is up from prior published estimates of roughly 600 bears. ... more

by Wildlife Fine Art

Title

Grizzly Bear

Artist

Wildlife Fine Art

Medium

Photograph - Prints / Licensing

Description

The government's latest estimate of 718 bears in the Yellowstone area is up from prior published estimates of roughly 600 bears.
Unlike many mammals, bears can see with their eyes in color.They can almost see as well as we do, and they
have an excellent sense of smell.
The grizzly bear (Ursus arctos horribilis) is a circumpolar mammal and a subspecies of brown bear (Ursus arctos).
Most bears are born without fur. Cubs can climb, but after a couple of
years, their front claws grow too long (up
to 4 inches), and they lose Ease of the ability,but they still can climb if needed.
Unlike many mammals, bears can see with their eyes in color.They can almost see as well as we do, and they
have an excellent sense of smell.
They can eat large quantities of food and store significant amount of fat without suffering from health problems.
This uncanny ability of grizzlies to store fat content and evade heart diseases continues to baffle scientists
all over the world.
Bears can run up to 30 to 40 miles per hour, That as fast as some running horses. The fastest human can run about 27 mph.
A grizzly bear can smell 7 times better than a bloodhound, and said to be 100 times better than a human.
Grizzly bears walk flat-footed similar to humans, but are bow-legged for stability and strength.
Grizzly bears may gain as much as three pounds of weight a day as they prepare for hibernation.
In the Yellowstone ecosystem, grizzly bears tend to dig or locate dens on the mid to upper one-third of 30-60 degree slopes
with northern exposures between 6,562-10,006 feet in elevation. Pregnant females den at higher elevations than
other females and male bears. Hibernation is varied by as much as one month depending on weather conditions.
There are several different types of dens utilized by bears, Grizzly bears tend to excavate dens at the base of large
trees often on densely vegetated north-facing slopes. This is advantageous in the Yellowstone ecosystem due to
prevailing SW winds which accumulate snow on northerly slopes and insulate dens from temperatures which often
drop as low as -40 F to -60 F.Grizzly bears in YNP usually dig new dens but on occasion, dens
(especially natural cavities) are re-utilized.
Hyperphagia is a period of excessive eating and drinking to fatten for hibernation. Black bears with unlimited food and water ate 15,000 to 20,000 calories per day and drank several gallons. Large amounts of water are needed to process the large amounts of food and rid the body of nitrogenous waste. Fall transition is a period after hyperphagia when metabolic processes change in preparation for hibernation. Bears voluntarily eat less but continue to drink to purge body wastes. They become increasingly lethargic, resting 22 or more hours per day, often near water. Active heart rates fall from 80-100 per minute to 50-60 per minute, and sleeping heart rates fall from 66-80 per minute to less than 22 per minute.

Uploaded

August 4th, 2015