Grizzly Bear
Talking Points
Exhibit Talking Points: Our job as interpreters is to link what the visitors are seeing to The Zoo's
conservation education messages. Our goal is to spark curiosity, create emotional connections
and inspire visitors to take action. The best way to achieve this goal is to share thematic
information that connects to The Zoo's messaging. To help you successfully engage with visitors
at the grizzly bear exhibit, the interpretation team has put together thematic talking points that
are listed below.
Theme: Humans are part of the rich diversity of life, and have the power to protect or destroy
it.
Talking point: The impact of climate change on bear species
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Possible Hooks: Did you know polar bears and brown bears are both impacted by the
Arctic’s warming climate?
Related Information:
o Grizzly bears (and Kodiak bears) are a North American subspecies of brown bear.
o In addition to North America, brown bear range includes Europe and Asia.
o The grizzly subspecies range does not overlap with polar bear range. However
the range of brown bears and polar bears does overlap in the arctic regions of
northeastern Alaska and northwestern Canada, though they do not typically
encounter one another.
o Recently, scientific evidence has shown that a warming climate in the Arctic may
be allowing brown bears to expand their range northward into areas previously
occupied only by polar bears.
o Climate change is occurring around the world and human actions, such as
burning fossil fuels (coal, gas, etc.), are primarily responsible.
Call to Action:
o Encourage visitors to take steps to reduce their carbon footprint. By making
smart choices, we can reduce our greenhouse gas emissions and slow climate
change.
Theme: Humans and wildlife can coexist.
Talking point: The history of the MZIB grizzly bears
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Possible Hooks: Have you ever seen a bear in the wild?
Related Information:
o Grizzly bears are currently found in Montana, Washington, Wyoming, Idaho and
portions of Canada.
o The grizzlies exhibited in Polar Bear Watch were born in Montana, and found as
orphaned cubs.
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Grizzly Talking Points
The Maryland Zoo
Grizzly Bear
Talking Points
The two grizzly cubs were found foraging by themselves, and one was visibly
injured. They were rescued, treated by a veterinarian, and taken to a wildlife
center in Montana to recover.
o The cubs were deemed unreleasable due to being orphaned at such a young age
and being raised in human care.
o The Maryland Zoo stepped in to provide a home for these bears, as the facility
that treated them was not set up to care for adult bears long-term.
o Weeks after the cubs were rescued, their mother was found severely injured by
gunshot and was humanely euthanized.
o Grizzlies are often hunted for control measures and sport, and are sometimes hit
by cars or trains.
Call to Action: Educate visitors about how they can coexist with wildlife living in their
area. We can safely live with bears in Maryland by taking measures to keep them away
from our homes; dispose of trash/recycling in secure receptacles, feed pets indoors,
never feed wildlife by hand.
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Theme: Living things exist within complex relationships in ecosystems.
Talking point: Grizzly bears are omnivores
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Possible Hooks: Do you think grizzlies eat the same food as polar bears?
Related Information:
o Like polar bears, grizzlies have forward facing eyes and sharp teeth. Though,
unlike polar bears, grizzly bears eat vegetation in addition to live prey.
o Grizzlies opportunistically eat berries, nuts, fish, small mammals, grasses, roots,
insects, ungulates and carrion.
o Grizzlies move to areas of lower elevation in spring for early berries; move to
higher elevations as fruits and other plants become available; move to aquatic
areas when fish are available
Call to Action: Encourage guests to visit another omnivore’s exhibit to observe the
similarities and differences between the two species. What adaptations does that
animal have for finding food?
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Grizzly Talking Points
The Maryland Zoo
Grizzly Bear
Ursus arctos horribilis
Description
 Size:
o Length: 3.3 – 9.2 feet
o Height: Up to 5 feet
 Weight:
o Male: 300-600 lbs but can get up to 800lbs
o Female: 200-400 lbs
o Cubs can weigh up to 200lbs by their 1st year
 Physical Description: Grizzly bears are a North American subspecies of brown bear; they
are smaller than kodiak bears, the other North American subspecies. Fur varies in color
from black to blond with silver tips, giving the bear a grizzled appearance. Grizzlies are
commonly identified by their humped shoulders.
 Sexual Dimorphism: Males are significantly larger than females.
In the Wild
Habitat and Range
 Range: Grizzlies are currently found in Montana, Washington, Wyoming, Idaho and
portions of Canada. Home-range size varies with food availability – from 77 to 3000
square miles.
o Historically, grizzly range was widespread and extended from the Arctic to
central Mexico, from the Pacific to Minnesota, including western Canada and
Alaska.
o Other brown bear subspecies are found across the continents of North America,
Europe and Asia; the largest populations are found in Alaska, Canada and Russia.
 Habitat: Has a broad ecological tolerance – commonly found in open forest and
woodland habitats at various elevations, and are also found in shrubland and grassland
habitats.
Diet
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Omnivorous: Opportunistically eats berries, nuts, fish, small mammals, grasses, roots,
insects, ungulates and carrion
Adaptations
 Stands upright on hind legs when threatened to appear larger and more intimidating –
however standing behavior is often just so they can see better
 Has an acute sense of smell and hearing, and relatively poor vision
 Teeth are suited for their varied diet – they have long canine teeth for tearing meat, and
broad flat molars for grinding plants
 Long, sharp claws are adapted for digging and climbing trees
 Able to preserve energy during the winter through the process of hibernation, where
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Grizzly Bear
The Maryland Zoo
Grizzly Bear
Ursus arctos horribilis
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bears enter a dormant state by reducing their heart rate and body temperature, and
rely on stored fat for energy
2-4 months before hibernation, bears enter a state called hyperphagia, where they
excessively eat and drink – gaining up to 3lbs a day
Social Structure
 Except for mothers with cubs, grizzlies are solitary – although they can be seen
congregating in areas with plentiful food
 They are not territorial, but will ferociously defend their personal space – females with
cubs are extremely defensive
Lifespan/Life Cycle
 Wild: 15-25 years
 Captivity: 25+ years
Ecosystem relationships
 Predators: Have virtually no predators other than humans and on rare occasions, other
brown bears
 Competition: Competes with other carnivorous mammals for food, such as other bears,
bobcats, wolves and foxes
 Human interaction: Are sometimes found rummaging through human trash cans and
camping materials, and can be persecuted out of fear
 Importance:
o Leftover kills provide food for scavengers like bald eagles and ravens
o Are top predators in the food chain and keep prey populations in check
o Aid in seed dispersal through their foraging behaviors
Reproduction
 Breeding season: April – July
 Behavior:
o Females do not breed until they are 4 – 7 years old, and typically reproduce once
every three years.
o Females cover the den floor with grasses and other soft vegetation
o Females give birth during hibernation and care for the young inside the den until
spring
 Gestation: Brown bears experience delayed implantation. In delayed implantation, the
egg is fertilized but does not implant into the uterine wall immediately. Eggs that are
fertilized in the spring do not begin to develop until the fall. Cubs are born in January or
February
 Number of offspring: 2-3 per litter is most common
 Maturation:
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Grizzly Bear
The Maryland Zoo
Grizzly Bear
Ursus arctos horribilis
o Cubs are small at birth, with little hair and closed eyes
o Cubs stay with the female for 2-3 years
o Females are reproductively mature at 3.5 years; males at 5.5
Activity
 Grizzlies are mostly diurnal, but are also active at night when food is scarce
o Brown bears inhabiting other continents are mostly nocturnal
 Move to areas of lower elevation in spring for early berries; move to higher elevations
as fruits and other plants become available; move to aquatic areas when fish are
available
 Hibernate in a den during the winter – does not eat, drink or eliminate waste during
hibernation
o Dens are excavated in the fall and are about 5 feet in diameter, some dens have
an entrance tunnel
Other “Fun Facts”
 Grizzlies got their name from the silver-tipped fur that gives them a grizzled appearance.
However, not all grizzlies are grizzled. Brown bears of every subspecies can vary in
appearance from brown to blond to near black to silver-tipped.
 While adult brown bears are mostly solitary, bears of all ages play. Cubs wrestle and
tumble with one another, and bears of all ages will chase birds, play with objects and
slide down slippery slopes on their bellies.
 Brown bear subspecies in North America (including grizzlies) do not often climb trees,
unlike subspecies in other parts of the world
Conservation Status and Threats
 Brown bears as a species are listed as Least Concern by the IUCN Red List – The grizzly
subspecies was listed as Threatened in 1975 in the continental U.S. under the
Endangered Species Act.
o Today, the grizzly population in the Yellowstone area has recovered enough to
be de-listed, but the remaining populations remain threatened.
 Threats:
o Habitat loss: Grizzlies are wide ranging and need vast amounts of undisturbed
habitat; destruction and fragmentation of their habitat makes populations
vulnerable
 Recreational and agricultural development, and the presence of
roadways degrade and fragment grizzly habitat
o Poaching: Hunted illegally for the commercial trade of gall bladders and paws;
gall bladder bile is thought to have medicinal value in some Asian cultures and is
sold on the black market.
 Also hunted by humans for sport or control measures, and are sometimes
hit by cars and trains.
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Grizzly Bear
The Maryland Zoo
Grizzly Bear
Ursus arctos horribilis
o A low rate of reproduction prevents populations from rebounding quickly.
At the Zoo
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Two female grizzlies came to the zoo in late 2016 at the recommendation of the
Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA), the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS),
and the Montana Department of Fish, Wildlife, & Parks.
Here at the Zoo, the grizzlies are exhibited in Polar Bear Watch. Born in early 2016, the
two grizzlies are sisters and were found in Montana foraging by themselves without
their mother; one cub was visibly injured. The cubs were then rescued and treated by a
veterinarian before being taken to a wildlife center in Montana to recover. Because the
cubs were orphaned at such a young age, the bears could not be expected to survive if
returned to the wild and were deemed unreleasable.
Several weeks after the cubs were rescued, their mother was found severely injured by
gun shot, and was subsequently euthanized.
What We Can Do
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Support conservation efforts of local organizations like The Maryland Zoo, as well as
organizations working in the field to protect wildlife and conserve habitat. Learn more
about them, spread the word, and consider getting involved.
Take measures to responsibly coexist with wildlife. Do not attract wildlife to your home
– dispose trash in secure receptacles, do not leave food outdoors over night, feed pets
indoors etc.
Additional Resources and References:
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Smith University:
http://www.science.smith.edu/departments/biology/VHAYSSEN/msi/default.html
IUCN Red List:http://www.iucnredlist.org/details/41688/0
San Diego Zoo Global: http://ielc.libguides.com/sdzg/factsheets/brownbear
Arkive: http://www.arkive.org/brown-bear/ursus-arctos/
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service:
o https://ecos.fws.gov/docs/candidate/assessments/2006/r6/A001_V04.pdf
o https://ecos.fws.gov/ecp0/profile/speciesProfile?spcode=A001
National Resource Conservation Service Montana:
https://www.nrcs.usda.gov/wps/portal/nrcs/detail/mt/home/?cid=nrcs144p2_057920
U.S. Forest Service: https://www.fs.fed.us/database/feis/animals/mammal/urarh/all.html
National Wildlife Federation: http://www.nwf.org/wildlife/wildlife-library/mammals/grizzlybear.aspx
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Grizzly Bear
The Maryland Zoo