Finding Grizzly Bears in Yellowstone

The grizzly bear evokes primal emotions in people and, hands down, is my favorite animal. I can watch them for days at a time and never get bored. I have read every book I could get my hands on and numerous websites about them. Mike says I am obsessed with grizzlies, and I have to agree. I have a very healthy respect and am under no illusion of having some type of special bond with them. That said, I do believe that my time spent observing them paired with my knowledge has given me a good understanding of the animal. Other than zoos, the only place I can reliably see grizzlies in the lower 48 states is Yellowstone National Park. I have seen several grizzlies in Glacier National Park in northern Montana, but not on every trip.

The Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem and northwest Montana are the only areas south of Canada that still have large grizzly bear (Ursus arctos horribilis) populations. Grizzly bears were federally listed in the lower 48 states as a threatened species in 1975 due to unsustainable levels of human-caused mortality, habitat loss, and significant habitat alteration. Grizzly bears may range over hundreds of square miles, and the potential for conflicts with human activities, especially when human food is present, will make the presence of a viable grizzly population a continuing challenge for its human neighbors in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem. As of 2014, there are approximately 150 grizzlies with home ranges wholly or partially in the park and a total of 674–839 in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem, which includes: Yellowstone and Grand Teton National Parks, and Shoshone, Bridger-Teton, Caribou-Targhee, and Gallatin National Forests.

grizzly at norris junction in Yellowstone National Park

Grizzly bear spotted at Norris Junction

Males weigh 200–700 pounds, females weigh 200–400 pounds. Adults stand about 3½ feet at the shoulder and may live 15–30 years. They are generally 1½ to 2 times larger than black bears of the same sex and age class within the same geographic region, and have longer, more curved claws. While they are referred to as brown bears, grizzly fur can range from blonde to brown and even black. They have a dished face and a prominent shoulder hump. Grizzlies are very agile and can run up to 45 mph. They can climb trees but curved claws and weight make this difficult. They are very capable swimmers and can run uphill and downhill. They’ve adapted to life in forest and meadows.

If you decide to spend time looking for, watching or photographing grizzly bears, make sure you have good bear safety skills. I have written a separate post on Safety in Bear Country: Safety in Bear Country Link Remember that grizzly bears are wild animals and therefore extremely unpredictable. Safety skills can help minimize the chances of a bad encounter, but cannot eliminate the risk of an encounter or a bad outcome. People do get seriously injured and killed by grizzly bears.

Mother grizzly with 3 cubs of the year that we ran into while hiking near Indian Creek

Mike and I have done quite a bit of hiking in Yellowstone and have had two grizzly bear encounters on hikes. The first involved the mother grizzly with 3 cubs of the year (COY’s) shown above. We were hiking when this mother and her young cubs spilled out onto our trail from high brush, maybe 50 yards in front of us. Given the reputation of grizzly mothers, we were both quite concerned at that moment. The mother seemed to have her hands full with supervising the three cubs, which is probably why she had not heard us- we had been making noise. We had previously discussed bear encounters/ safety and both knew that we needed to immediately start backing away. We did not even need to speak to each other. As we took our first steps backwards, I saw Mike reaching for his bear spray. Had I been alone, I would have grabbed mine first also. But, since he had his out, I grabbed my camera which is usually hanging around my neck and snapped a couple of shots and then let go of it and grabbed my bear spray. I still hear about that decision to this day, whenever he tells the story. Fortunately, the mother did not decide we were a threat and rallied her cubs to head the other direction. We were thankful that none of the cubs headed our way out of curiosity. This situation could have gone very differently.

The second encounter we had while hiking was with a decent sized male grizzly. We were headed up the hill toward the Petrified Forest in Lamar Valley. We saw the grizzly heading right to left just a little above us at about 150 yards away. We started backing down the hill and grabbed our bear sprays. At some point he caught our scent and stopped and stared straight at us looking like he was trying to figure out what we were. We chose to raise our arms over our head and yell “Hey bear” to look bigger and make him realize we were humans. He must have decided that he wasn’t concerned because he then continued on his way. With the topography, he went into a fold that was no longer in our line of sight. We couldn’t tell if he kept moving on, he remained out of sight, so we decided to turn around and try that hike another day.

Grizzly bear in Yellowstone’s Lamar Valley

I have observed grizzlies in spring, summer and fall. They hibernate in the winter and as I have no intention of finding or crawling into their dens, the other three seasons will have to do. In the spring, bears emerge from their dens. Pregnant grizzlies give birth over the winter and emerge with young cubs. Cubs stay with their mother for 2-3 summers. They den with her during the winters. Bears emerge with a strong hunger. They immediately begin their quest for food. In Yellowstone’s harsh winter conditions, many animals die. The frozen corpses of the winter killed animals become a feast for the emerging grizzlies who use their keen sense of smell to find them. In spring, plants are starting to grow again. Grizzlies are omnivores, eating many plants.

Around April, the ungulates (bison, elk, moose, antelope, and deer) begin having their babies, which become another food source. New born elk are a particular favorite. When the elk are first born, they are wobbly and unable to keep up with the herd. Their survival technique is to lay down in grass and not move. Grizzly bears are smart and learn things from their mothers and their own experiences. They have learned the common areas that elks calve in the spring. Grizzlies can be found in these areas doing a grid search looking for elk calves. If a calf is spooked and gets up to run away, game over. Elk mothers are not as aggressive about defending their young as some other animals, such as bison. If a grizzly tries to grab a bison calf, the mother and the rest of the bison herd is more likely to try to chase off the bear. If the bear gets the mother and calf away from the herd, the bear has a better chance, but still risks injury from horns or hooves.

Another late spring to early summer food source are the spawning cutthroat trout. Lake Yellowstone supports the largest inland population of cutthroat trout in the world. Bears can be found in the areas of the spawning streams. Throughout the summer bears eat plants, grubs and rodents. They will scavenge on carcasses. Some take down larger prey. In the high altitudes of the mountains, some bears dine on large numbers of army cutworm moths. These moths are nocturnal and hide in the rock slide skree slopes. Bears move large amounts of rocks to eat up to 40,000 moths in a day. In the fall, grizzlies eat whitebark pine nuts, which are high in fat to build-up fat for winter hibernation. Rather than collect their own nuts, they often raid squirrel middens, where squirrels are storing their supply for winter.

Grizzly bear in spring, looking for plants to eat in tree wells which are islands among the snow

Grizzlies are loners, except for moms with cubs. Male grizzlies will kill cubs to make the females ready to mate again. Female grizzlies are notoriously protective of their young. While observing grizzlies, I have seen mothers nursing, bears playing, bears digging up grubs/rodents, bears on carcasses, napping and in the spring I have observed bears intentionally slide down snow covered slopes!

Zoom lenses are helpful in bear photography. Binoculars and spotting scopes allow for better viewing at a safe distance. In Yellowstone, some grizzly bears are viewed from the roads. Many of my best pictures have been taken road side. Park rules mandate that people stay 100 yards from bears. Grizzlies are often found in the wide open expanses of sage and other plants. They can be found near the herds of bison and elk.

Places in Yellowstone I have had success viewing grizzlies: