Warm weather has Yellowstone National Park grizzly bears ending hibernation early

Visitors to Yellowstone National Park should be on the lookout for grizzly bears. Unusually warm spring-like weather has caused the bears to end their winter hibernation earlier than usual, Laura Zuckerman reports for Reuters. From 2012 to 2014 grizzly bears were not seen until March 4-14. (Western Wildlife map)

"Grizzly bears in the lower 48 states were listed as threatened under the U.S. Endangered Species Act in 1975 after hunting, trapping and poisoning reduced their numbers to roughly 1,000 from about 100,000," Zuckerman writes. Yellowstone, which consists of 2.2-million-acres in Wyoming, Montana and Idaho "contains an estimated 600 grizzlies, or the bulk of such bears that still roam the lower 48 states." (Read more)