Grizzly bear watching - endangered species

The grizzly bear is listed as threatened in the United States and endangered in parts of Canada. In May 2002, the Canadian Species at Risk Act listed the Prairie population (Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba range) of grizzly bears as having become locally extinct since the settlement of these areas by people.

Where can you watch grizzly bears ?

The current range of the grizzly bear extends from Alaska, south through much of Western Canada and into portions of the Northwestern United States including Idaho, Montana, Washington and Wyoming, extending as far south as Yellowstone and Grand Teton National Parks, but is most commonly found in Canada.

Grizzly bears watching can be dangerous

Grizzly bears will retain a strong memory of where it found food, so campers must expect a grizzly to return to the site it found it's food source - even if that was the campsite tucker !! Read about what camping precautions and other safety advice for grizzly bear watching here. Don't forget to keep your Bear Deterrent Pepper Spray handy.

Grizzly bear watching holidays

There are lots of holiday packages for watching grizzly bears - simply type grizzly bear watching into your search engine and read away.

An example is Great Bear Nature Tours which offers from early May through October, grizzly bear viewing excursions from Port Hardy to a beautiful river valley on the central coast of British Columbia - known as the Great Bear Rainforest. This area is considered to be one of the best places in the world to observe grizzly bears and many other forms of wildlife including black bears, wolves and bald eagles.

You can always watch grizzly bears at youtube in the safety and comfort of your computer screen !!

The important things to think about are how responsible your tour operator appears to be. Are they thinking about ecotourism and their habitat or are the grizzly bear watching holiday packages too focused on your enjoyment and too little on the grizzly bears. Please think before you select and try to be a responsible ecotourist - thank you.

more on watching grizzly bears here