Our Liviiii^ Rcstfiirct'.s — MwwULih 



lOJ 



Reforencts 



Cowan, I.M. 1972. The status and conservation of bears 



(Ursidae) of the world — 1970. International Conference 



on Bear Research and Management 2:.^4.^-.^67. 

 Hall. E.R. 1981. The mammals of North America. 2nd ed. 



John Wiley and Sons. New York. 1.181 pp. 

 Leopold. A.S. 1959. Wildlife of Mexico. University of 



California Press. Berkeley. 608 pp. 

 Maehr. D.S. 1984. Distribution of black bears in eastern 



North America. Eastern Workshop on Black Bear 



Research and Management 7:74. 

 McCracken. C. K.A. Johnson, and D. Rose. 1995. Status. 



manacement. and commercialization of the American 



black bear (Ursm uiiuriminis). Traffic USA. 



Wa.shington. DC. In press. 

 Pelton. M.R. 1982. Black bear Pages 504-514 in J. A, 



Chapman and G.A. Feldhanicr. eds. Wild mammals of 



North America; biology, management, and economics. 



John Hopkins University Press. Baltimore and London. 

 Pelton. M.R,. F, vaiiManen. A. Coley, K. Weaver. J. 



Pedersen. and T. Eason. 1994. Black bear conservation 



action plan — North America. lUCN/SSC Bear Specialist 



Group Tech. Rep. In press. 

 Servheen. C. 1990. The status and conservation of the bears 



of the world. Inteniational Conference on Bear Research 



and Management. Monograph Series 2. .^2 pp. 



For further information: 



Michael R. Vaughan 



National Biological Service 



Virginia Cooperative Fish and 



Wildlife Research Unit 



Virginia Polytechnic Institute and 



State University 



Blacksburg. VA 24061 



Grizzly bears (Ursiis arctos) once roamed 

 over most of the western United States from 

 the high plains to the Pacific coast (Fig. I ). hi the 

 Great Plains, they seem to have favored areas 

 near rivers and streams, where conflict with 

 humans was also likely. These grassland griz- 

 zlies also probably spent considerable time 

 searching out and consuming bison that died 

 from drowning, birthing, or winter starvation, 

 and so were undoubtedly affected by the elimi- 

 nation of bison from most of the Great Plains in 

 the late 1800"s. They are potential competitors 

 for most foods valued by humans, including 

 domesticated livestock and agricultural crops, 

 and under ceitain limited conditions are also a 

 potential threat to human safety. For these and 

 other reasons, grizzly bears in the United States 

 were vigorously sought out and killed by 

 European settlers in the 1800's and early 1900's. 



Between 1850 and 1920 grizzlies were elim- 

 inated from 95% of their original range, with 

 extirpation occurring earliest on the Great Plains 

 and later in remote mountainous areas (Fig. la). 

 Unregulated killing of grizzlies continued in 

 most places through the 1950"s and resulted in a 

 further 52'7f decline in their range between 1920 

 and 1970 (Fig. lb). Grizzlies survived this last 

 period of slaughter only in remote wildeiTiess 

 areas larger than 26.000 km- (10.000 mi-|. 

 Altogether, grizzly bears were eliminated from 

 98% of their original range in the contiguous 

 United States during a 100-year period. 



Because of this dramatic decline and the 

 uncertain status of grizzlies in areas where they 

 had survived, their populations in the contiguous 

 United States were listed as threatened under the 

 Endangered Species Act in 1975. High levels of 

 grizzly bear mortality in the Yellowstone area 

 during the early 1970"s were also a major impe- 

 tus for this listing. Grizzly bears persist as iden- 

 tifiable populations in five areas (Fig. lb): the 

 Northern Continental Divide. Greater 

 Yellowstone. Cabinet-Yaak. Selkirk, and North 

 Cascade ecosystems. All these populations 

 except Yellowstone's have some connection with 

 grizzlies in southern Canada, although the cur- 

 rent status and future prospects of Canadian 

 bears are subject to debate. The U.S. portions of 



these five populations exist in designated recov- 

 ery areas, where they receive full protection of 

 the Endangered Species Act. 



Grizzlies potentially occur in two other areas: 

 the San Juan Mountains of southern Colorado 

 and the Bitterroot ecosystein of Idaho and 

 Montana. There are no plans for augmenting or 

 recovering grizzlies in the San Juan Mountains. 

 and serious consideration is being given to rein- 

 troducing grizzlies into the Bitterroots as an 

 "experimental nonessential" population. 



1890 



Distribution in 1850 

 I Distribution in 1920 



NCE SE 



rrT^~-° CYE 



Q 



Distnbution in 1850 \ 

 ■I Distnbution in 1970-90 

 □ Occasional sightings or 



potential occurrences 



Grizzly Bears 



David J. Mattson 



R. Gerald Wright 



Katherine C. Kendall 



Clifford J. Martinka 

 National Biological Sen-ice 



Fig. 1. Approximate distribution 

 of grizzly bears in 1850 compared 

 to 1920 (a; Merriam 19221 and 

 1970-90 (b). Local extinction 

 dales, by state, appear in (a). 

 Populations identified in (b) are 

 NCE — North Cascades ecosys- 

 tem. SE — Selkirk ecosystem. 

 CYE — Cabinet-Yaak ecosystem, 

 BE — Bitterroot ecosystem, 

 NCDE — Northern Continental 

 Divide ecosystem, GYE — 

 Greater Yellowstone ecosystem. As 

 indicated in (b), a grizzly was 

 killed in the San Juan Mountains 

 of southern Colorado in 1979. 



