Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
The so-called
black bear
(Ursus americanus)
may be brown or cinnamon colored as well
as black. To decide whether a bear you see at a distance is a black or a grizzly, try to observe
its overall size. Adult black bears are usually about 3 feet (90 cm) in shoulder height and up to
5.5 feet (1.7 m) in overall length, weighing up to 250 pounds (114 kg). If you can see the face
and ears clearly enough, observe their shape; black bears have a rather flat face in profile and
pointed ears. Their claws are relatively short.
Black bear
Grizzly bear
In contrast, Yellowstone's
grizzly bears
(
Ursus arctos)
often have the grizzled or silver-
tipped hair their name suggests but may have darker hair at certain times of the year. Grizzly
boars (males) may weigh 700 pounds (318 kg) and sows 400 pounds (182 kg) and be 4.5 feet
(1.4 m) in shoulder height and 6.5 feet (2 m) overall. Their most distinguishing features are
a shoulder hump and extremely long claws, which help them dig roots but hinder them in
climbing trees. Their sense of smell is incredible: the olfactory region in grizzly brains is about
250 times larger than that of humans.
You can't generalize about grizzlies, according to Dick Knight, former head of the Inter-
agency Grizzly Bear Study Team, since each year they learn new tricks, and they are notori-
ously unpredictable.
