Endangered Species Blog Post

Grizzly Bear

Status: Endangered

Species distribution:                                                                                                                   According to http://wdfw.wa.gov/conservation/endangered/species/grizzly_bear.pdf,  "Prior to the arrival of Europeans, grizzly bears occupied much of the western half of the contiguous U.S., central Mexico, western Canada, and most of Alaska.  By the 1930s, grizzlies had been eliminated from all but 2% of their historical range in the 48 contiguous states."

Natural History Information: Throughout history Grizzly Bears have been found throughout Washington except for "Olympic Peninsula and the lowlands below the west slope of the Cascades (Almack et al. 1993)." Some facts I learned were that Grizzly Bears hibernate for four to six months and that right before they hibernate they eat large amounts of food to prepare for it. The Northern Cascades is the main location for Grizzly Bears in Washington State. 

The Main Threats To This Species: 

In the Northern Cascades here in Washington the main threats are "Human disturbance, population size, and population fragmentation resulting in genetic isolation." It is hard to recover these Grizzly Bears in Washington because there is so few of them, so we need to be diligent.

Are there any potential threats associated with Global Climate Change?

I did not catch anything on this source that said anything about Global Climate Change being a factor in threatening this species. But obviously it is definitely a factor, especially down the line if it continues its progression.

What makes this species vulnerable especially in the North Cascades (Washington/Canada) is that there are not a lot of these bears which makes recovery difficult. Also human caused mortality is a factor that us humans need to work on preventing. In the Selkirk Mountains Ecosystems, Grizzly Bears are low on food availability. 

Some of the actions being done to help the Grizzly Bears is that in 2010 The Grizzly Bear Outreach Project worked in local communities to spread awareness on the endangered Grizzly Bears in means to protect any more harm coming their way.

I picked the Grizzly Bear as my organism because I have always been interested in them because of how big and athletic they are. Something surprising I learned was that there are only about 20 Grizzly Bears in Washington which is upsetting.