In British Columbia, the population
of grizzly bears, Canada's largest carnivore,
is as low as 4000 or as high as 13 000. Although
they are now extirpated in former habitats such
as the Peace Lowland and Georgia Depression
and rare in the southern interior, Canada still
represents the last country in which bears survive
in any significant numbers. Their diet ranges
from grass and roots through wild berries, insects,
fish and other animals. Coastal bears are great
fishers and make salmon the mainstay of their
diet. The reproduction rate of a grizzly is
one of the slowest of any land animal in North
America.
Females are not ready to bear
young until they are 5 to 8 years old and males
may not mature until age ten. Females average
fewer than one cub per year. The cubs, born
blind and defenseless while the mother is still
hibernating, are about the size of a kitten
and they must remain under the mother's protection
for two years.
Females require a home range
of no less than 27 square kilometres while the
male may need as much as 1350 square kilometres
of pristine wilderness. Habitats may be mountainous
areas, salmon estuaries of BC, or the treeless
tundra of the Northwest Territories. Although
the natural life span of wild bears can be 25
years or more, the BC government has estimated
that each year, 6355 bears are shot and killed
before they reach maturity; the outfitters of
British Columbia charge from $10 000 per grizzly.
Thousands of peaceful human/bear encounters
occur every year - in fact only 16 fatal attacks
have been recorded in BC over the last 20 years.
Although there were more deaths from spider
bites, if one is ever in the vicinity of a 700
kilogram bear, standing at 2.6 metres and capable
of reaching speeds close to 50 kilometres an
hour, there is comfort in knowing that bears
instinctively retreat from any human contact.
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