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Before European settlement, 50,000 to 100,000 Grizzly bears ranged from Mexico to Alaska, eastward through Canada to the Hudson Bay, and across North America's vast prairies, wetlands, forests and mountainsides. A sub-species of the Brown bear (Ursus arctos), the Grizzly bear (Ursus arctos horribilis) is considered a "keystone species" that influences the diversity of other species in the ecosystems it inhabits.

Their habitat varies from the edges of the deserts to high mountains and ice fields.

As a top predator, the Grizzly bear affects the number and distribution of prey species and other predators. Foraging on berries and herbs, bears disperse seeds and so promote a variety of plant life. As grizzlies dig for tubers, insects and rodents, they loosen topsoil and help renew nutrients. And where coastal grizzlies dine on salmon, they spread nitrogen and other marine elements well beyond streams into upland habitats.

Owing to the grizzly's extensive home range and need for wild land, undisturbed denning habitat, and abundant native berry crops and prey -from grubs and ground squirrels to deer and elk -the condition of a grizzly population is one of nature's barometers of a healthy and complete ecosystem.

Today, they are primarily found in Canada.

Please see the related link below for a visual representation of the Grizzly's quickly-shrinking range.

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14y ago

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