Return of the grizzly

Valley habitats are extremely productive for bears, but where there are human settlements with livestock, there could be conflict with grizzlies.

An adult male grizzly bear, Yellowstone National Park.

Present grizzly distribution in the Lower 48 States (that is, all States except Alaska and Hawaii).

Differences between the black bear and the grizzly bear.

Rob Wingard, a biologist with the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife, at the visitor centre of North Cascades National Park on July 7 with the stuffed five-year-old grizzly that was illegally shot in Alaska.

Salmon are a nutrient-rich food source for bears. Here, the Coho (silver) salmon.

Sockeye (red) salmon.

Chinook salmon.

Diablo lake with the Colonial (2,375 m) and Pyramid (2,189 m) peaks in the background, which are home to mountain goats.

The Skagit river, one of the main salmon and steelhead rivers in the Cascades, a mountain range in the U.S. Pacific north-west.

The North Cascades Ecosystem has granite peaks, alpine meadows, conifer forests and broad-leaved vegetation and sagebrush-filled valleys. Alpine habitats are not only productive for ungulates and bears but are also very scenic.

Fireweed (Chamaenerion angustifolium).

Rosy spirea (Spiraea splendens).

Broadleaf arnica (Arnica latifolia).

Foxglove (Digitalis purpurea) was common along the edge of roads.

Fred Koontz, the authors’ trekking companion, dwarfed by old growth trees in the Cascades.

Himalayan blackberry (Rubus armeniacus), as photographed on July 15.

Red elderberry (Sambucus racemosa).

Trailing blackberry (Rubus ursinus).

Lake 22, one of the many alpine lakes in the Cascades.

1 / 0

A grizzly bear (Ursus arctos horribilis) mother with cubs, Glacier National Park, Montana.