# Are Grizzly Bears Exticnt? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [January 17, 2001, 11:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-grizzly-bears-exticnt/50588 "2001-01-17T23:32:48Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 17\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Nefarious\_Chipmunk](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nefarious_chipmunk/32/1045_2.png) [@Nefarious\_Chipmunk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nefarious_Chipmunk)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2001, 11:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-grizzly-bears-exticnt/50588/1 "2001-01-17T23:32:48Z")
Okay, this may be an incredubly stupid question, but, I heard on a quiz show (can’t remember for sure which one, but I think that it was Ben Stien) that the Grizzly Bear is extinct. Last I heard it was endangered, but a few still live in Alaska or something. I am confused. Is it extinct, or not? ---
**Author:** ![Punoqllads](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/d2c977/32.png) [@Punoqllads](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Punoqllads)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2001, 11:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-grizzly-bears-exticnt/50588/2 "2001-01-17T23:46:21Z")
When last I was in Yosemite Valley, they had quite a grizzly bear problem, and I doubt that it’s gone extinct since then. ---
**Author:** ![Dr\_Paprika](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr_paprika/32/3042_2.png) [@Dr\_Paprika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr_Paprika)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2001, 11:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-grizzly-bears-exticnt/50588/3 "2001-01-17T23:53:46Z")
Lots of Canadian grizzlies left, eh? ---
**Author:** ![manhattan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/manhattan/32/7_2.png) [@manhattan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/manhattan)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2001, 11:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-grizzly-bears-exticnt/50588/4 "2001-01-17T23:55:27Z")
**herald** , this is the kind of thing I was talking about in my [Moderator’s Notes](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?threadid=55855) thread. Throwing “Grizzly Bear” into Google turned up 113,000 links. The _very first one_ is about preserving the species, and the description of the site includes the words “landscapes in North America where grizzly bears still survive.” Please do some research on your own before opening a thread in this forum. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2001, 11:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-grizzly-bears-exticnt/50588/5 "2001-01-17T23:55:38Z")
How to tell the difference between a grizzly bear and a black bear: 1. Sneak up behind the bear and kick it in the butt. 2. Climb the nearest tree very quickly. If the bear climd the tree and eats you, it’s a black bear. If the bear knocks down the tree and eats you, it’s a grizzly bear. (Note: This was a _joke_. I don’t want to hear, “Oh, bears don’t eat people” or “But bears are this” or “But bears are that.” Hm. Maybe posting this note is a sign I’ve been around these boards too long? 😉 ) ---
**Author:** ![panamajack](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/47e85d/32.png) [@panamajack](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panamajack)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2001, 12:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-grizzly-bears-exticnt/50588/6 "2001-01-18T00:18:42Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Punoqllads \* > When last I was in Yosemite Valley, they had quite a grizzly bear problem, and I doubt that it’s gone extinct since then. Either you’re very old, or you were misinformed. There have not been grizzly bears in California for quite some time. Yosemite (and much of the Sierra where people visit) do have quite a problem with black bears, however. The extinction of the grizzly bear population from the (grizzly) “Bear Flag Republic” may have been the source of the Ben Stein question and/or the OP’s confusion. ---
**Author:** ![frolix8](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/f04885/32.png) [@frolix8](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/frolix8)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2001, 12:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-grizzly-bears-exticnt/50588/7 "2001-01-18T00:43:56Z")
The _California_ grizzly is extinct, Yosemite has a black bear problem. (Although Yosemite means Grizzly Bear) ---
**Author:** ![mipsman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e99b99/32.png) [@mipsman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mipsman)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2001, 12:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-grizzly-bears-exticnt/50588/8 "2001-01-18T00:46:06Z")
The California Golden Bear, immortalized on the flag, is an extinct race of grizzlies. ---
**Author:** ![bernse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/a9a28c/32.png) [@bernse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bernse)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2001, 12:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-grizzly-bears-exticnt/50588/9 "2001-01-18T00:49:13Z")
I saw one on the weekend. Beautiful animal. It was a treat to see it. There is still quite a few in Canada. FWIW, we actually have problems with Black Bears in several areas here too. ---
**Author:** ![tisiphone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bbe5ce/32.png) [@tisiphone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tisiphone)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2001, 12:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-grizzly-bears-exticnt/50588/10 "2001-01-18T00:59:36Z")
erm, we seem to have a surplus. Anybody want one? Free to a good home, one irascible 1000kg teddy. You, however, have to provide shipping and handling. 😃 Same goes for wolves…funny how those environmental groups have endless supplies of money to fund protests, but they vanish when you want them to pony up for relocation…:rolleyes: Colorado already took us up on our offer of excess lynx. /old joke warning/ How can you tell the difference between grizzly poop and black bear poop? Grizzly poop has the bear bells in it. Tisiphone ---
**Author:** ![Cabbage](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f07891/32.png) [@Cabbage](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cabbage)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2001, 1:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-grizzly-bears-exticnt/50588/11 "2001-01-18T01:34:13Z")
> [@](#): > > Although Yosemite means Grizzly Bear I’ve always heard of a different meaning from [National Geographic](http://www.nationalgeographic.com/destinations/Yosemite_National_Park/Glacier_Point_Mariposa_Grove.html): > [@](#): > > Stop at the Pioneer Yosemite History Center, where, in summer, visitors enter restored buildings and chat about the past with costumed interpreters who portray such real people as a cavalry trooper, a 19th-century homesteader, and a mountaineer. From conversations with these players you learn Yosemite Valley’s modern history, which began in 1851, when members of the Mariposa Battalion were tracking down Indians accused of raiding nearby trading posts. Foothill Miwok called Miwok living in the valley “Yohemite,” which means “some of them are killers.” Thinking that this was the Indians’ name, the whites gave an approximation of it to the valley. ---
**Author:** ![Muffin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muffin/32/4341_2.png) [@Muffin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Muffin)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2001, 1:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-grizzly-bears-exticnt/50588/12 "2001-01-18T01:53:40Z")
In the lower 48 there are isolated pockets of grizzly bears. It remains to be seen if these populations are sustainable, or if, due to splintering of habitat, regional extinctions will continue. They are common in parts of Canada, and very common in parts of Alaska. That being said, here is a grizz story to cheer up your day. Brent W. and Troy were hiking on their honeymoon. About three-quarters along a day-long trail loop, they came across a grizzly in a meadow. They stopped and retreated a few hundred yards, and waited to see if the bear would move along. They did not want to backtrack the entire day’s hike, so they simply waited. Along came a few other hikers. Brent warned them to wait, and they did. Along came more hikers, and they too took Brent’s advice and waited. Toward the end of the afternoon, along came a group including an older woman walking with the assistance of a cane. Brent chatted with them, and learned that the woman with the cane was recovering from hip surgery, and was pretty much at the end of her endurance. Wispering “human probe” in his bride’s ear, Brent suggested that the group was large enough to pass by the grizzly, and so they did. Brent’s theory was that he and his bride did not have to worry about outrunning the bear (which cannot be done), but rather that all they had to worry about was being able to outrun the woman with the cane. ---
**Author:** ![Neenah](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/958977/32.png) [@Neenah](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Neenah)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2001, 8:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-grizzly-bears-exticnt/50588/13 "2001-01-18T08:31:53Z")
I live in northwest Montana, and there are grizzlies around here, but they’re not exactly on every corner. I’ve only seen a few in the wild, and none very up-close, which is fine with me. It’s not like I want to shake paws and get to know Mr. Bear better over a bowl of berries. A pheasant hunter recently had a run in with one about six miles from my house. The hunter had to kill the bear, which is unfortunate, but better than the other way around. The bear still managed to charge and knock him down after being shot. The game warden who was called wrote a letter to an outdoors magazine, and said, “Anyone could see that it was self-defense. His Winchester Model 12 was bent like a banana…” Grizzly poop has the bear bells in it, indeed. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2001, 12:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-grizzly-bears-exticnt/50588/14 "2001-01-18T12:46:55Z")
> [@](#): > > Brent’s theory was that he and his bride did not have to worry about outrunning the bear (which cannot be done), but rather that all they had to worry about was being able to outrun the woman with the cane. Aw, I was going to tell that joke! ---
**Author:** ![cantara](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6f9a4e/32.png) [@cantara](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cantara)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2001, 2:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-grizzly-bears-exticnt/50588/15 "2001-01-18T14:38:34Z")
My aunt in Fairmont BC recently had a couple of Grizzlies in her yard. They live on the edge of a golf course opposite the base of a mountain. A pair of bears came off the mountain looking for food. My aunt inside the house noticed them ambling though the yard and called for her husband who was outside fixing a lamp. He came inside just as the bears rounded the corner where he had been standing. The grizzlies felled a choke-cherry tree and were eating the berries. They called the authorities who came over and shot the bears. My aunt was quite distraught by this (expecting relocation), but apparently it is policy to shoot any bears (I assume any type) if they are coming to the town to feed. Yeah…that’ll teach those other bears. ---
**Author:** ![frolix8](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/f04885/32.png) [@frolix8](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/frolix8)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2001, 3:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-grizzly-bears-exticnt/50588/16 "2001-01-18T15:16:46Z")
Who can tell with word origins, this site makes the Grizzly claim, which I first heard from a ranger at Yosemite. [http://www.users.cts.com/sd/m/menright/yosemite.html](http://www.users.cts.com/sd/m/menright/yosemite.html) ---
**Author:** ![Cabbage](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f07891/32.png) [@Cabbage](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cabbage)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2001, 8:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-grizzly-bears-exticnt/50588/17 "2001-01-18T20:20:37Z")
**frolix8** : Interesting, I’d never heard that explanation for the name before. Thanks for the link.