BACKGROUND - British Columbia: Including the Alaska Highway - page 713

Bears will usually avoid you; however, you may come across the odd bruin. Bear
talk is a favorite topic in the north, and everyone who has ever spent time in the wil-
derness has his or her own theory about the best course of action in the event of an
encounter or an unlikely attack. On a few things, everyone agrees: Stay in a group
and back away slowly, talking firmly the whole time. Do not run —a bear can easily
outrun a human. Black bears can climb trees but grizzlies can't. If an attack seems
imminent and it's a black bear, the general consensus is to try to fight the animal off;
if it's a grizzly, drop to the ground in a hunched-up position, covering your neck, and
play dead.
Park staff can supply you with bear-aware literature, and many books have been
written on the subject. One of the best is Bear Attacks: Their Causes and Avoidance
(Lyons Press, 2002) by Canadian bear expert Stephen Herrero.
If you spot a bear feeding beside the road, chances are it's a black bear. These are
the most common of all large mammals in British Columbia, estimated to number around
120,000, with the highest concentrations on Vancouver Island and the Haida Gwaii. Their
weight varies considerably (the larger ones are found in coastal areas), but males average
150 kilograms (330 pounds), females 100 kilograms (220 pounds). Their diet is omnivor-
ous, consisting primarily of grasses and berries but supplemented by small mammals. They
are not true hibernators, but in winter they can sleep for up to a month at a time before chan-
ging position. Young are born in late winter, while the mother is still asleep.
British Columbia's estimated 15,000 grizzlies are widespread in all mainland areas of
the province but are only occasionally seen by casual observers. Most sightings occur
along coastal areas (where they are generally called brown bears ) during salmon runs (the
Khutzeymateen Grizzly Bear Sanctuary, near Prince Rupert, is world-renowned as a grizzly
viewing spot) and in spring and fall in alpine and subalpine zones. The bears' color ranges
from light brown to almost black, with dark tan being the most common. On average, males
weigh 250-350 kilograms (550-770 pounds). The bears eat small- and medium-sized mam-
mals, and salmon and berries in fall. Like black bears, they sleep through most of the winter.
When they emerge in early spring, the bears scavenge carcasses of animals that succumbed
to the winter until the new spring vegetation becomes sufficiently plentiful.