10 things to know about grizzly bears

 The giant brown-haired grizzly bear is a predator known as one of nature's most powerful killing machines. Measuring 8 feet long from nose to tail and weighing up to 800 pounds, these ferocious animals have fascinated and horrified humans for centuries. Here are 10 little things about grizzly bears to learn more about them!

1. Grizzly bears are actually pretty light eaters.
Grizzly bears—a subspecies of brown bears native to North America—are strong enough to make a meal of anything they like, including moose, elk, and bison. Although they are known for eating only meat, their diet also includes nuts, berries, fruits, and leaves. They will even eat rats. Overeating until they begin to exhibit hyperphagia, a stage in preparation for winter hibernation, eats enough food to gain three pounds per day.

2. Grizzlies use CPR to get to your food.
More than 700 grizzly bears live in or near Yellowstone National Park, forcing officials to constantly monitor how park visitors and bears peacefully coexist. Because bears rummaging through food containers can lead to human-bear conflicts, the park's Grizzly and Wolf Discovery Center tests trash cans and coolers to see if they're bear-resistant. Often, bears will use "CPR": jumping on a can with their front legs, causing the lid to pop off, similar to a person performing CPR on someone. At least the manufacturers of containers that last can advertise that they are bear-friendly 60 minutes before opening.

3. Grizzly bears can climb trees.
It's a myth that grizzly bears can't climb trees. They can move vertically if they choose, although their weight and long claws make climbing difficult, and they require support from evenly spaced branches.

4. They eat other bears.
In addition to being omnivorous, grizzly bears can also be classified as man-eaters. They were caught eating black bear carcasses in Canada. Officials at Banff National Park in Alberta say grizzly bears are "opportunistic" and more than willing to eat black bears - sometimes as little as one-fifth their size - if necessary. And it's not just black bears: A study on bear eating habits published in 2017 documented a 10-year-old male bear eating a 6-year-old female brown bear.

5. They love moths.
Although grizzly bears like to eat many insects, moths are their first choice. Researchers have observed bears willing to climb high into the alpine highlands of Montana's Glacier National Park to feast on flying appetizers. Grizzly bears turn over rocks and spend 14 hours a day eating more than 40,000 moths.

6. A pair of grizzly bears once lived on the grounds of the White House.
In a decision that today would be considered ill-advised, explorer Zebulon Pike decided to give his friend President Thomas Jefferson two grizzly bear cubs in 1807. Jefferson reluctantly accepted them and kept them in a cage near the north entrance to the White House, later re-gifting the cubs to museum operator Charles Wilson Peale. Sadly, one of the cubs was shot for being too aggressive towards Peel's family.

7. A grizzly bear can run faster than Bolt.
The bears we see in novels or hanging out in the wild tend to look lumbering and slow, like most things that weigh half a ton. But in a land race, even an Olympic champion would be on the verge of failure. The Grizzlies can reportedly run at 35 mph and maintain speeds of up to 28 mph over the two-mile stretch, beating Usain Bolt's 27.78 mph stride (he can only hold for a few seconds) fast.

8. They can mate with polar bears.

In parts of Alaska and Canada, where grizzly and polar bear ranges overlap, rare sightings of what observers call "grizzlies" sometimes occur. They have large heads and light-colored fur and are hybrid super bears resulting from some interspecies mating. Normally, male grizzly bears roam these areas, looking for female polar bears to make themselves at home. Researchers believe climate change is one reason the two are coming together.

9. Grizzlies know how to cover their tracks.
Grizzly bears may not get as much attention as birds and whales when it comes to intelligence, but they are still very smart. Even though it has been 10 years since they last visited the area, bears still remember the location of food; some have been observed covering tracks or shielding themselves with rocks and trees to avoid detection by hunters.

10. Grizzly bears remain endangered.
For 42 years, Yellowstone’s grizzly bears have occupied the endangered species list. That ended in 2017, when the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service declared the increase in numbers — from 150 in the 1970s to more than 700 today — a sign of conservation success. The move sparked controversy and opposition from environmentalists and many Native American tribes. Overall, the grizzly bear population remains listed as a threatened species. Conservationists estimate there are fewer than 2,000 grizzly bears in the lower 48 states, down from 50,000 two centuries ago.