Grizzly bear
We do not hunt the grizzly. British Columbia closed the grizzly hunt in 2017. We share the country with it, and seeing one is a privilege.
Ursus arctos
The one that owns the valley.
- Weight
- Inland boars often 200 to 350 kg, sows much lighter
- Shape
- Shoulder hump, dished face, small round ears
- Claws
- Long and pale, made for digging, not for climbing
- Colour
- Blond to dark brown, often with silver tipped hair
- Food
- Roots, grasses and berries, fish where they run, sometimes calves
- Young
- Cubs stay with the sow for two to three years
Where it lives
Grizzlies use everything from the river to the alpine. In spring they dig roots on avalanche slides and graze the first grass. In summer they are on the berry slopes, and where fish run they come down to the water.
They need a lot of room and little disturbance. A roadless territory with few people in it is exactly that.
A year of eating and sleeping.
Spring
Out of the den in April and May. Roots, grass and winter kill.
Summer
Breeding in early summer, then berries on the open slopes.
Fall
Feeding hard before winter. Bears are on the move all day.
Winter
In the den from about November, usually high up on a steep slope.
How we live alongside them.
Every guest gets a bear briefing on the first day. We travel in pairs, make ourselves heard in thick cover, carry bear spray and keep a clean camp. Meat and food are stored so that no bear is rewarded for coming close.
If a grizzly is on a slide across the lake, we watch it through the scope and leave it to its day.