Grizzly Bear Painting in the Works

In Yosemite we have black bears; which do, by the way, come in several colors including brown. This guy is a grizzly. Grizzly bears are usually much larger, have shorter ears, and a hump on the shoulders.

Before European colonialists arrived and began killing grizzlies en mass, they were once found across much of western North America, and sometimes even into the plains ares. "Grizzly bears perhaps numbered 70,000 individuals when Europeans first arrived. In contrast to the Native Americans, who coexisted with grizzly bears for many thousands of years, European settlers slaughtered every bear they could find. In just 150 years, humans shot, trapped or poisoned 98% of the grizzly bears in the lower 48 states." (Grizzly Times) Today the range of grizzlies extends through Wyoming, Montana, Idaho, Washington State, Canada, and Alaska. Here in Yosemite there were once grizzlies, but the last known grizzly in Yosemite was shot in 1895 at Crescent Lake. Of course, grizzlies are popular residents in Yellowstone.

This particular painting is based on a photo I took of a grizzly at the San Diego Zoo. While I was photographing this bear one of the tour buses drove by, and I heard the guide say that the two grizzlies at the zoo were brothers from Yellowstone. Their mother had been teaching them bad habits as cubs (i.e. getting into human food) that would put them in danger, so they were placed with the zoo. 

I've said this a lot, but it is worth repeating. Follow the rules for food storage and animal safety when you visit national parks. What seems like a magical moment to you often put the wildlife in danger. Bears that get used to getting human food (whether purposefully or not on the humans part) often become a danger to humans and have to be euthanized. What for you was a cool TikTok, for a bear might mean death, or at best captivity. Don't be selfish take care of our shared spaces and their inhabitants.  

​Check out this video about the history of bear management in the national parks: https://www.nps.gov/yell/learn/nature/grizzlybear.htm