Native to northern USA and Canada, the grizzly bear is in fact a subspecies of brown bear (or Ursus arctos horribilis) and is often called the North American brown bear to prevent confusion. A Grizzly can be identified by its thick, brown fur, a large shoulder hump, a straight snout and rounded ears. They have strong front legs with long claws used for digging and hunting. They can also grow extremely large, but there’s often a lot of variation in size between different populations – the average male weighs around 240kg and measures 2.2m long, while an average female weighs 160kg and measures 1.8m.
Latin Name
Ursus arctos horribilis
Featured
false
Slug
grizzly-bear
Site
Thumbnail
Image
Conservation Status
Animal Category
Region
Animal Facts
Grizzly bears hibernate for 5-7 months a year; they will eat huge amounts before hibernating to gain enough weight to survive this time without eating.
The 'hump' visible on a grizzly bear's back is a large amount of muscle that bears use when digging dens or hunting prey.
Grizzly bears can gain 180kg of weight when preparing for hibernation.
In the wild each cub in a grizzly bear litter may have a different father.
Grizzly bears love to eat moths, and will make the extra effort to find moths by climbing to high altitudes and overturning rocks.