Black bears and grizzly bears are hard to distinguish by colour. Black bears can be black, blue-black, dark brown, brown, cinnamon and even white. Grizzlies, likewise, may range in colour, from black to blond.
The grizzly bear has a pronounced shoulder hump, a concave or "dished" facial profile and much larger claws than the black bear. Black bears have a flatter, "Roman-nosed" profile, larger ears and no shoulder hump.
Bears are omnivorous - meaning they eat vegetable and animal matter. Their natural diet, although mainly vegetarian, includes berries, grasses, nuts and seeds, roots, insects, fish, carrion and, occasionally, mammals such as deer and moose.
Bears generally avoid people. However, with the ever-increasing sprawl of human development, conflicts are inevitable. When natural food is scarce, bears may travel hundreds of kilometres, sometimes coming in contact with human settlements and human foods. As opportunistic feeders, hungry bears may enter a backyard or campground if lured by smells from a barbecue or trash bin.
BEARS ARE PREDICTABLE. Bears are usually more predictable than people. Learn more about bears and how to interpret bear behaviour, so that you can react appropriately and avoid a negative encounter.
Bears are NOT ferocious. Bears are NOT mean or malicious. Bears are normally shy, retiring animals that have very little desire to interact with humans.
Black Bears are usually more tolerant of people and often live near human settlements, whereas Grizzlies prefer to stay away from human settlements and often become extinct in heavily used or populated areas.
Black Bears are generally less aggressive than grizzlies.
Black Bears' excellent tree climbing ability is often used to escape predators and other bears; threatened mothers send cubs climbing.
Grizzlies are not good tree climbers (a mother grizzly will aggressively defend her cubs on the ground)
Standing up on its hind legs allows a bear to get more information from its senses of smell, sight, and hearing. It is a sign of curiosity, not aggression.
Bears are active mainly from dawn to dusk, but may be seen any time of day or night.
Most negative human-bear encounters are as a result of bears reacting defensively vs. active aggressively and can therefore be avoided.
Bears are very curious and will inspect odours, noises & objects to determine if they are edible or playthings.
Vocalizations from treed or trapped bears are usually FEAR MOANS and are often mistaken for growls.
Food & Fear dominate a bear's life. Most of a bear's day is spent foraging for food.
Do not feed bears! Conditioning bears to human food sources will eventually lead to trouble and often the death of the bear.
Although bears are technically of the order Carnivora, they are essentially omnivores.
Fish and meat are important sources of protein and fat. Although meat tops the list of high-quality food, most bears rely on chance carrion (including winter-killed animals). Some become very effective predators on newborn elk, moose, deer or caribou. Others live in areas where salmon, suckers or other fish spawn for part of each year.
Bears spend most of their time feeding on vegetation, insects and other more reliable, although lower calorie food sources. Plant foods make up the majority of a bear's diet (sometimes, as much as 90%).
Bears use a patchwork of habitats through the year, concentrating on different food sources as they come into season.
How do you distinguish a black bear from a grizzly bear
http://www.mountainnature.com/Wildlife/Bears/BearID.htm
