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Posted: Thu Feb 22, 2007 12:50 pm Post subject:

Grizzly bears reach weights of 180–680 kilograms (400–1,500 pounds); the male is on average 1.8 times as heavy as the female, an example of sexual dimorphism. Their coloring ranges widely across geographic areas, from blond to deep brown or black. These differences, once attributed to subspeciation, are now thought to be primarily due to the different environments these bears inhabit, particularly with regard to diet and temperature.
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Posted: Thu Feb 22, 2007 12:50 pm Post subject:

The grizzly has a large hump over the shoulders which is a muscle mass used to power the forelimbs in digging. The head is large and round with a concave facial profile. In spite of their massive size, these bears can run at speeds of up to fifty-five kilometers per hour (thirty-five miles per hour).
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Posted: Thu Feb 22, 2007 12:51 pm Post subject:

Normally a solitary nocturnally active animal, in coastal areas the grizzly congregates alongside streams and rivers during the salmon spawn. Every other year females (sows) produce one to four young (most commonly two) which are small and weigh only about 500 grams (one pound). Sows are very protective of their offspring.
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Posted: Thu Feb 22, 2007 12:51 pm Post subject:

The current range of the grizzly bear extends from Alaska, south through much of Western Canada, and into the northern Northwestern United States including Idaho, Montana and Wyoming. Its original range also included much of western and southern United States, but it has been extirpated in those areas.
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Posted: Thu Feb 22, 2007 12:51 pm Post subject:

It is expected that the grizzly's repopulation of its U.S. range will be a slow process due equally to the ramifications of reintroducing such a large animal to areas which are prized for agriculture and livestock and also because of the bear's slow reproductive habits (bears invest a good deal of time in raising young)
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Posted: Thu Feb 22, 2007 12:52 pm Post subject:

There are currently about 60,000 wild grizzly bears currently located throughout North America.
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Posted: Thu Feb 22, 2007 12:54 pm Post subject:

Sumatran Tiger
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Posted: Thu Feb 22, 2007 12:54 pm Post subject:

The Sumatran tiger (Panthera tigris sumatrae) is found only on the Indonesian island of Sumatra. The wild population is estimated at between 400 and 500 animals, occurring predominantly in the island's national parks
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Posted: Thu Feb 22, 2007 12:54 pm Post subject:

Recent genetic testing has revealed the presence of unique genetic markers, indicating that it may develop into a separate species, if it is not made extinct
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Posted: Thu Feb 22, 2007 12:54 pm Post subject:

This has led to suggestions that the Sumatran tiger should have greater priority for conservation than any other subspecies. Habitat destruction is the main threat to the existing tiger population (logging continues even in the supposedly protected national parks), but 66 tigers were recorded as being shot and killed between 1998 and 2000—nearly 20% of the total population.
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Posted: Thu Feb 22, 2007 12:55 pm Post subject:

Bison
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Posted: Thu Feb 22, 2007 12:56 pm Post subject:

Bison is a taxonomic genus containing six species of large even-toed ungulates within the subfamily Bovinae. Only two of these species still exist: the American Bison (B. bison) and the European Bison, or wisent (B. bonasus). In American Western culture, the bison is commonly (and incorrectly) referred to as "buffalo".
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Posted: Thu Feb 22, 2007 12:57 pm Post subject:

Bison are distinct from buffalo, with the only two species holding that name being the Asian Water Buffalo and African Buffalo. The gaur, a large, thick-coated ox found in Asia, is also known as the Indian Bison, although it is in the genus Bos and thus not a true bison.
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Posted: Thu Feb 22, 2007 12:57 pm Post subject:

The American and European bison are the largest terrestrial mammals in North America and Europe. Like their cattle relatives, bison are nomadic grazers and travel in herds, except for the non-dominant bulls, which travel alone or in small groups during most of the year.
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Posted: Thu Feb 22, 2007 12:57 pm Post subject:

American bison are known for living in the Great Plains. Both species were hunted close to extinction during the 19th and 20th centuries but have since rebounded, although the European bison is still endangered.
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