Black bear or Grizzly?

dipbait

dipbait

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Feb 9, 2008
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Saw this bear in Yellowstone. Could someone identify it? I saw several black bears. Dont know if this is a light collored one or a young Grizzly.

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Man I hope that was a long zoom lens!

Incendently, I have no idea what species it is :) It looks like a young griz to me, but I'm guessing.
 
The head looks like a grizzly to me, but I'm no expert.

Google images of black bears and grizzlies and try to compare there different features, like shoulders, ears, forehead/brow, nose, etc.
 
Try pissing him off. If it is a black bear he will usually run off. If it is a Grizz.....well......maybe it's not a real good idea.

LOL


:eek:
 
That pic makes it hard to tell. Grizzlies have a hige shouloder hump (root digging) and flatter faces. This pic makes it hard to tell if the shoulder hump is less pronounced because he's mid step, or if it's black. The head looks like a black bears's, but again hard to tell. You took just the right shot to make it difficult. What was it doing at the time of the shot and before/after?
 
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I'm thinking its a Brown. Grizzlies are known as far south as Yellowstone, but this one looks more like a brown to me. A Griz' head is shaped more like that of a polar bear, and the hump over the shoulders is ususally a bit more prominent.
 
It's hard to tell from that picture, but I'd say it's a black bear. I base that mostly on the size of the ears and some on the width of the face. If I could see the face/muzzle better it would help a lot.

MT FWP has an online test you can take.
 
You could be right, but black's generally have pretty small shoulders. That's what makes me think brown. Either way, wish I was there!
 
bushman14 said:
I'm thinking its a Brown. Grizzlies are known as far south as Yellowstone, but this one looks more like a brown to me. A Griz' head is shaped more like that of a polar bear, and the hump over the shoulders is ususally a bit more prominent.
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I'm confused by this post. The Grizzly (Ursus arctos horribilis) is a subspecies of the Brown bear (Ursus arctos). As far as I know there are no Brown bears in WY/MT/ID, only Grizzly and Black bears.

Are you saying it's a Grizzly or not? Your post seems to contradict itself. :confused:
 
I have spent a considerable amount of time around both flavors throughout Canada, Alaska, and the lower 48. And, still, it is sometimes difficult making a positive identification under certain conditions (even for biologists). BTW, we have had FAR more problems with black bear when hunting, fishing, and camping in the far North. Only twice did I (we) have a serious grizzly encounter in the outback.

Looks like a grizz to me with nice blonde shoulders. :)
 
I'm going to go with black bear. When their coats change colors it can be difficult to tell, but they run the gammut from black to white, literally.
 
BUSHMAN14 - "I'm thinking its a Brown. Grizzlies are known as far south as Yellowstone, but this one looks more like a brown to me."
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There are no Brown bears in the lower 48 States. They are Alaska residents. There are most definitely different colored Black bears. I've killed two that were the same color as that bear in the picture, rust colored, which I think is a Black bear. It is not unusual for a person to see a "rust" colored Black bear and call it a "Brown bear." But they're not of that species.

As far as Grizzlies being as far south as Yellowstone Park, I assure you they are farther south than that. I've seen their tracks in Wyoming and Idaho much farther south of the southern boundary of the Park. Also was warned to be careful by a Nat'l. Forest Ranger in our Idaho elk camp, southwest of the s.w. corner of the Park, that a Griz had torn up a hunters' camp about a 1/4 mile south of us, a few days before.

FWIW.

L.W.
 
That's a black bear. Color can vary from black to a rich cinnamon to almost blond. I accidently walked up on a large cinnamon male once when hunting turkey. Got within 30 yds before I saw him. :eek:
 
The head looks like a black bear head, narrower and pointier, the hump looks small. I would say it a black.
 
Looks cinnamin to me. not really broad enough between the ears for grizzly.

I thinks its a black bear, just as long as its not a hungry bear.... Pat
 
I can't tell from the photo angle, and I'm not experienced with seeing grizzlies.

Could be a black bear - as mentioned, they can be different colors ranging from blond to red to pitch black. They sometimes even have manes or 'boots' of different colors. The coloration patterns can make it possible to identify individual bears.

Size of the ears is an indicator of the bear's age; I cannot tell the difference between a grizzly bear ear and a black bear ear. :) The black bears ears don't grow, or not as much as the rest of the animal anyway, so a younger bear will appear to have large ears and an older bear will appear to have very small ears. If the photo is a black bear, he's average age/size.
 
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