Grizzly bears
By George Panagos
What grizzly bears eat
Grizzly bears' diet varies on where it lives. Bears in costal Alaska eat lots of fish and clams. A grizzly living on inland mountains eats small animals, berries, and roots. Sometimes they eat large animals like deer and elk. Grizzlies live in a claimed territory, which means it has to eat whatever edible stuff is in the area.
Grizzlies will stalk a herd of animals. It picks off weak, sick, old and young animals that can't keep up with the herd. After the bear gets a kill, it covers the body with dirt and waits until its safe to eat. They've been known to even hunt black bears!
While getting ready for hibernation, a grizzly can eat as much as 100 pounds of food a day. For female grizzlies, the more they eat getting ready for hibernation affects the amount of cubs she will have. For the first 2 years of it's life, cubs only drink their mothers milk before switching to traditional foods. Soon they learn to recognize food from a mile away!
dinnertime
forager
Grizzly bear vs. black bear
Although they are part of the same family, grizzlies and black bears are very different. They share the same range but black bears also live in Mexico and the great plains and east coast from Maine to Florida. You may think that black bears are black and grizzlies are brown, but both can be black, brown and cream. Grizzlies also can have grizzled (gray haired) fur. They also have about 1-4 cubs.
Grizzly bears nurse cubs for 82 weeks, while black bears nurse for 30 weeks. Grizzly bears are huge, over 9 feet long and can weigh 1200 pounds! Black bears are only 6 feet long and weigh 660 pounds. Some features to tell them apart are grizzly bears have longer claws. They also have a muscle hump on their backs.
Life of a grizzly bear
Also,cubs must learn Vital survival skills. They do this by playing. Play helps cubs learn by play fighting and chasing. Play also helps cubs get enough exercise and increases speed and coordination. Cubs are classified as adults when they are 5 years old. Then they are ready to mate. Male grizzlies must wait a few more years before mating because they may be driven off by a larger, more powerful bear. They raise cubs, drive them off and mate again. They repeat this until they die.
Problem+solution
How cubs become big and strong
not only the milk that helps, but cubs play a lot. Play is important because it increases speed and coordination. They play all the time and are always trying to get moms attention. After 5 years a cub will be able to live on it´s own.