Grizzly Bears in North America

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Grizzly Bears in North America
Introduction
The Grizzly bear (Ursus arctos) has long been considered to be the symbol of the wild. They are beautiful, powerful and at the same time vulnerable animals. They are known to survive in remote areas not inhabited by humans. The Grizzly was once able to occupy most of the land from northern Mexico to Alaska and most places in between. With a disappearing natural habitat and one of the lowest reproduction rate of any mammal in North America the Grizzly bear has seen population number fall dramatically. Most Grizzly bears left in the continental United States are located in four states near Yellowstone National Park. Canada has Grizzly populations in five provinces. The state of Alaska has the largest population of these amazing animals. With change in habitat due to human involvement and low reproduction rates, Grizzly bears have had a hard time sustaining population numbers. This has caused them to virtually become non-existent in certain areas of North America and is forcing the bears that are left to move to more sufficient areas that can sustain their populations.

Classification
Grizzly bears are classified using a taxonomic hierarchy as are most living things in this world. The classified is by this hierarchy class, order, family, genus, species, and subspecies. The classification of the bears is as follows: Mammalia, Carnivora, Ursidae, Ursus, and Arctos. The Mammalia class includes warm blooded animals with hair to regulate body temperature. The Carnivora class includes animals that eat meat and have large sharp teeth. Ursidae is a small group of 8 species which are all bears. Ursus Arctos is the scientific name for the brown bear of North America.
Appearance
The Grizzly...

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...naturescience/bearrecovery.htm -yellowstone pops (good introduction)
8. http://www.bearbiology.com/fileadmin/tpl/Downloads/URSUS/Vol_9/Banci_Demarchi_Archibald_Vol_9.pdf - population and good map of north America
9. http://www.env.gov.bc.ca/wld/documents/grzzlybear.pdf -Population Location
10. http://animals.pawnation.com/many-grizzly-bears-there-america-1733.html - what states found in
11. http://www.pbs.org/wnet/nature/episodes/bears-of-the-last-frontier/hour-one-city-of-bears/brown-bear-fact-sheet/6522/ - range in America
12. http://www.env.gov.bc.ca/wld/documents/grzzlybear.pdf - Alaska population and Canadian population
13. http://www.nps.gov/yell/naturescience/grizzlyup.htm - GYA population numbers
14. http://visityellowstonenationalparkyall.weebly.com/ - biome habitat
15. http://www.fws.gov/mountain-prairie/species/mammals/grizzly/ - conservation/protection

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