# Why no Grizzly Bears in the Eastern US? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [January 22, 2008, 3:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-no-grizzly-bears-in-the-eastern-us/434509 "2008-01-22T15:28:36Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![robz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ac8455/32.png) [@robz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robz)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2008, 3:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-no-grizzly-bears-in-the-eastern-us/434509/1 "2008-01-22T15:28:36Z")
Why didn’t Grizzly bears extend their range into the east say 400 years ago before large scale development? Not enough food on the Great Plains? I was watching that show on the history channel last night, “After Humans” and they were talking about how fast animal populations can expand given an opportunity. So I’m thinking what kept the Grizzly to the western half of N. America? I am assuming that developed areas keep them locked into the Rockies now. ---
**Author:** ![Ponder\_Stibbons](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ponder_stibbons/32/343_2.png) [@Ponder\_Stibbons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ponder_Stibbons)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2008, 3:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-no-grizzly-bears-in-the-eastern-us/434509/2 "2008-01-22T15:42:18Z")
A quick read of [this wiki entry](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grizzly_bear) shows that, indeed, their historical range did not include the eastern US. I’m guessing, just from reading [this related article](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Black_Bear) that the reason is that that part of the continent was more ideally suited to the black bear. ---
**Author:** ![ShibbOleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/848f3c/32.png) [@ShibbOleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ShibbOleth)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2008, 4:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-no-grizzly-bears-in-the-eastern-us/434509/3 "2008-01-22T16:42:45Z")
They probably never got past the bison buffet in the middle part of the continent. ---
**Author:** ![thelurkinghorror](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7c8e57/32.png) [@thelurkinghorror](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thelurkinghorror)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2008, 6:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-no-grizzly-bears-in-the-eastern-us/434509/4 "2008-01-22T18:38:18Z")
Stephen Colbert. ---
**Author:** ![Bytegeist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/9dc877/32.png) [@Bytegeist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bytegeist)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2008, 6:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-no-grizzly-bears-in-the-eastern-us/434509/5 "2008-01-22T18:57:38Z")
It’s the arrangement that Chuck Norris and the grizzly population have come to over the years. They split up the continent 50-50. ---
**Author:** ![anson2995](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c77e96/32.png) [@anson2995](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/anson2995)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2008, 9:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-no-grizzly-bears-in-the-eastern-us/434509/6 "2008-01-22T21:31:05Z")
Maybe no grizzlies here in the northeast, but there are black bears in my area. ---
**Author:** ![Philster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/13edae/32.png) [@Philster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Philster)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2008, 9:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-no-grizzly-bears-in-the-eastern-us/434509/7 "2008-01-22T21:36:30Z")
Grizzly Bears like their Salmon fresh. ---
**Author:** ![toadspittle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c0e974/32.png) [@toadspittle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/toadspittle)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2008, 9:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-no-grizzly-bears-in-the-eastern-us/434509/8 "2008-01-22T21:54:18Z")
Following up on Ponder’s post–Grizzlies are better suited to open areas. Black bears are better suited to more heavily forested areas. It looks as though the grizzlies did, at one time, live on the Great Plains as well as the Rockies, but they were never able to successfully exploit the densely forested Eastern US. ---
**Author:** ![GrizzRich](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/7ba0ec/32.png) [@GrizzRich](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GrizzRich)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2008, 12:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-no-grizzly-bears-in-the-eastern-us/434509/9 "2008-01-23T00:05:26Z")
Why has no one let ME in on this little piece of info? ---
**Author:** ![toadspittle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c0e974/32.png) [@toadspittle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/toadspittle)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2008, 12:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-no-grizzly-bears-in-the-eastern-us/434509/10 "2008-01-23T00:54:14Z")
[QUOTE=GrizzRich] Why has no one let ME in on this little piece of info? [/QUOTE] Get back across the Mississippi, you! ---
**Author:** ![GrizzRich](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/7ba0ec/32.png) [@GrizzRich](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GrizzRich)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2008, 1:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-no-grizzly-bears-in-the-eastern-us/434509/11 "2008-01-23T13:52:01Z")
[QUOTE=toadspittle] Get back across the Mississippi, you! [/QUOTE] I already AM across…on the EAST side. ---
**Author:** ![robz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ac8455/32.png) [@robz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robz)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2008, 2:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-no-grizzly-bears-in-the-eastern-us/434509/12 "2008-01-23T14:27:47Z")
Did some rivers in Maine have salmon runs before human distruption? [QUOTE=Philster] Grizzly Bears like their Salmon fresh. [/QUOTE] ---
**Author:** ![artemis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/91b2a8/32.png) [@artemis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/artemis)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2008, 2:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-no-grizzly-bears-in-the-eastern-us/434509/13 "2008-01-23T14:53:16Z")
[QUOTE=robz] Did some rivers in Maine have salmon runs before human distruption? [/QUOTE] I don’t know about salmon, but many east coast rivers once had large runs of shad. ---
**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2008, 3:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-no-grizzly-bears-in-the-eastern-us/434509/14 "2008-01-23T15:00:19Z")
[QUOTE=robz] Did some rivers in Maine have salmon runs before human distruption? [/QUOTE] Some still do, but the numbers are tiny these days. ☹