Biology Reference
In-Depth Information
Indeed, the differences between these two groups are sufficiently large that the two were long regarded
as separate species. The coastal brown bear, a.k.a. the Alaskan brown bear or Kodiak bear, was listed as
Ursus middendorffi,
while the inland grizzly bear was
Ursus horribilis.
Now, however, most scientists
agree that the inland grizzly and the coastal brownie are subspecies of the same species,
Ursus arctos.
Thus the brown bear is now
Ursus arctos middendorffi,
while the grizzly is
Ursus arctos horribilis.
Inland grizzlies inhabit parts of the Northwest Territories, the Yukon, most of Alaska, British
Columbia, and part of Alberta. In the lower forty-eight states, where they're an endangered species, the
remaining grizzlies live mostly in and around two national parks, Glacier and Yellowstone.
Temperament is a good place to begin with these two-bears-in-one. Grizzlies are properly regarded
as our most dangerous North American bear.
Ursus horribilis
it was named, Latin for “horrible bear,”
and its present subspecies name retains this view of the grizzly. Indeed, there's good reason for such
an appalling name; there have been a great many recorded incidents of grizzly attacks on humans, with
more than a few resulting in human fatalities. Grizzlies are highly protective of what they regard as
their personal space, which can be very large in some cases. With that attitude, combined with a very
short fuse, grizzlies should be considered extremely hazardous and strictly avoided.
Several years ago an experienced outdoor photographer was killed while taking a movie of a grizzly
from what would seem to have been a prudent distance. When the bear suddenly charged, the photo-
grapher kept his camera running, and a major sporting magazine later showed horrifying still frames of
the event, as the bear covered the distance to the photographer in a matter of seconds. The bear filled
the last frames, as I recall, horrifyingly close. Tragically, those were the final pictures ever taken by the
unlucky photographer.
In a more recent example, three hikers were mauled by a female grizzly with her cub. The first two
unexpectedly happened upon the bears, and the mother immediately attacked them. One of the injured
hikers staggered back along the trail to seek help from a park ranger. When he encountered another
hiker, that person continued forward to help the injured person left behind. The bears were still in the
vicinity, and the female attacked and mauled the would-be rescuer. Fortunately, all three hikers sur-
vived, although they suffered serious injuries.
These events should serve as a warning to others that they should stay as far as possible from grizz-
lies. At the same time, however, it's easy to exaggerate the dangers posed by grizzlies. The actual num-
ber of grizzly attacks on humans annually is extremely low, especially now that the Park Service has
altered its policies on things such as storage and removal of garbage at campgrounds. To put the matter
of grizzly attacks in perspective, a hundred or more people die annually from reaction to bee stings,
to say nothing of the many thousands who fall victim to that great predator, the automobile. Grizzlies
should be treated with the utmost caution and avoided wherever possible, but the chances that a reason-
ably cautious person will be attacked by one of these great predators is extremely small, even in prime
grizzly habitat.
In contrast, coastal brown bears have a considerably more relaxed attitude toward people. That most
emphatically doesn't mean that they're safe to approach closely, but these huge bears are far less likely
