Why Hibernate?     Home Range     Feeding Habits     Daily Patterns     Social Behaviour

Source: Grizzly Bears In BC 

Food Supply & Feeding Habits

•   Grizzly Bears are scientifically classed as a carnivore (meat eaters): 

  • Grizzly Bears are actually omnivores (everything-eaters) because they eat a variety of plant and animal foods  

    •  The diet of a Grizzly Bear includes vegetation, berries, wild honey,  roots, grasses, mountain sorrel, insects, small and large mammals, carrion, and fish 

•  Their diet varies throughout the year depending on how much food is available 

  •  The diet of interior and coastal Grizzlies differs due to variations in vegetation 
     and the fact that interior bears don't have as many salmon runs...  Bears in BC 

    • On the coast of BC, beginning in the spring, the bears feed on early green vegetation such as skunk cabbage and sedges located in the estuaries that become snow-free first – as the season advances, the bears follow the receding snow up the avalanche chutes feeding on emerging vegetation and roots

•  Grizzlies are great at fishing:

  • During salmon migrations, coastal Grizzlies gorge themselves on fish in the spawning channels 

  • Once salmon supplies dwindle, Grizzlies return to feeding on skunk cabbage and other vegetation 

    • In the BC interior, beginning in the spring, Grizzlies feed mainly on the roots of hedysarum and carrion – as the green vegetation emerges the bears begin to graze on grasses, horsetails, rushes and sedge 

    • Grizzlies will also prey on small mammals, especially ground squirrels 

•  Both coastal and interior Grizzlies will feed on insects and grubs when the opportunity arises 

  According to the Grizzly/Brown Bear Facts web-site:

• With their excellent sense of smell, Grizzlies can locate food from miles away 

• A major food source for Grizzlies are army cutworm moths – Grizzlies from all around climb to these elevations higher than 10,000 feet to consume 10,000 to 20,000 of these moths a day 

• When food is abundant, numerous Grizzlies will congregate and feed together – but once the food source is depleted, the Grizzlies will go their separate ways in search of other food 

• Roots, rich in proteins, carbohydrates, and minerals, are the most important food in much of the Grizzly Bear's range 

• Grizzlies may also prey on moose, elk, mountain goats and mountain sheep.  During the spring months, grizzlies also feed on the calves of these animals

A Natural Diet For A Black Bear

Over most of the Grizzly Bear's range, berries are the most important item in the bears' diet. Hinterland

Check out this neat site on Saving Berries for the Bears

The moist, rich soils of the valley bottoms provide an excellent environment for a variety of important grizzly bear forage species – red elderberry , currents, salmonberry, red-osier dogwood, devil's club and skunk cabbage

•  Grizzly Bears will take advantage of food and garbage carelessly made available by people... 

  • They learn quickly and can become habitual visitors to campsites and dumps

  • If rewarded by food that is easily available...this often leads to a confrontation between bear and human, and the results can be tragic for both! 

Source:  Bears In BC - Hinterland - BC Government - Grizzly Bears In BC

Check out a bear's Diet Throughout the Seasons 

• Seasonal Foods 

• Spring Foods 

• Summer Foods 

• Autumn Foods 

Grizzly Bear Index

Grizzly Bear Introduction
What Colour Are They?
What's Under All That Fur?
Grizzly Bears In Action
Grizzly Bear Activities
To Black Bears ...