Living with Wildlife - Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks

Navigation Trail

Grizzly Bear Facts

The grizzly's diet is mostly composed of plants and fruits.
Female grizzlies give birth and nurse their cubs in the den, and for the 5-6 months they're in the den they don't eat, drink or eliminate waste.
Twin cubs are born more often than single cubs; triplets are not uncommon.
On the average, it takes 12 years from birth for a grizzly to become a "grandmother", but only 4 years for a deer.
The oldest bear recorded in northwest Montana was 35 years old.
Grizzlies are not very social. Males roam the most, using areas from 600-1000 square miles. Females use areas up to 100 square miles. Grizzlies may travel 20-40 miles a day.
A grizzly can climb trees—over 20′, run 44′ per second, and swim across lakes and rivers.
A grizzly stands to get a better view, not as an aggressive display.
Grizzlies didn’t move from the plains into the mountains; they were eliminated from the plains, and only those populations in the mountains have survived.
Estimates are that about 35,000 grizzlies live in North America, mostly in Alaska, British Columbia, Northwest Territories, and Yukon. Over 100,000 are estimated to live in Asia.

Grizzly Bears