Grizzly bear (Ursus arctos) COSEWIC assessment and update update status report: chapter 3

• Previous page
• Table of contents
• Next page

3. Distribution

• 3.1 Global range
• 3.2 Canadian range

Global range

Ursus arctos maintains a vast holarctic distribution (Figure 12). Populations are known or believed to occur in Canada, U.S.A., and at least 42 Eurasian countries (Servheen et al. 1999). Many Eurasian populations are insular, small, and endangered. World-wide, the brown bear has lost an estimated 50% of its range and abundance since the mid-1800s (Servheen 1990). Within the contiguous lower 48 United States, grizzly bears have been eliminated from 98% of the range occupied in 1800 (Servheen 1999a).

Figure 12. Global distribution of grizzly/brown bears

Canadian range

The post-glacial distribution of Ursus arctos included nearly all of western Canada and extended well to the east. Fossil and other evidence indicates the bear’s apparent prehistoric occurrence in Ontario (Peterson 1965) and Labrador (Elton 1954; Speiss 1976; Speiss and Cox 1977; Veitch and Harrington 1996).

The occurrence of grizzly bears in Labrador during historic times is a matter of contention. Labrador is specifically excluded from range descriptions for the species in most references (e.g., Banfield 1974, Servheen 1990, Pasitschniak-Arts 1993, McLellan and Banci 1999). However, Elton (1954) and Veitch and Harrington (1996) cite anecdotal reports of trade in bear skins, believed but not confirmed to be of grizzlies, in Labrador as recently as 1926. Veitch and Harrington (1996) attributed the extirpation of grizzlies from Labrador to a dramatic decline in caribou abundance, coupled with human exploitation, and believed that the grizzly’s extirpation facilitated colonization of Labrador tundra by black bears. Jonkel (1987) disputed the existence of the “Ungava grizzly”, but acknowledged that individual bears may have wandered east of Hudson Bay. Based on available evidence, if a breeding population of grizzlies ever occurred in Labrador during historic times, densities and abundance must have been exceedingly low.

The grizzly bear in Canada currently occupies an estimated area of 2 574 000 km², or about 26% of the country’s land mass (Figure 3). Massive range contraction in North America and Canada has occurred in the historical past, particularly in the Prairies (Figure 13). Primary reductions in the North American and Canadian range were concurrent with European settlement and the advent of firearms. However, no reduction in distribution in Canada has been documented since the Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada (COSEWIC) assigned a status of “Vulnerable” (later changed to Special Concern) to the grizzly bear in 1991.