Being an omnivore, a grizzly bear will eat anything--insects, wild honey, grasses, sedges, roots, mountain sorrel, buffalo berries, fish, moose, elk, deer, sheep, and sometimes other bears!

The breeding season usually occurs in June and July, when the bears reach maturity around five years of age. The male chooses his mate and spends about a month with her, then leaves to continue his solitary life. The female then finds or digs her den, where she will sleep through the winter. She'll give birth to her cubs in January, February or March. (Gestation takes four or five months). Average litter size is two, but four is not uncommon. Weighing less than a pound, a newborn cub gains weight quickly from the rich mother's milk containing 33 percent fat. As they grow up, the cubs may increase their weight as much as 1,000 times. A deep bond unites a mother with her cubs, and she fiercely protects them from adult males and other predators, until they are two years old.

In Yellowstone National Park, the grizzlies number around 200. Montana is home to a real grizzly stronghold of approximately 600 bears. The actual total of grizzlies left in the wild is unknown. But the consensus is that fewer than 1,000 are left in the lower 48 states, while in Alaska and Canada there may be more than 35,000, with most of them roaming the far northern regions. Considered a threatened species in the United States, Canada does not consider this animal in peril.

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