Name: ________________
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Article of the Week
Directions: Actively read the article. This means you should preview the
questions at the end so you are reading with a purpose. While reading, highlight
answers and/or important ideas, and then complete the questions. Be sure to use
proper grammar and conventions in your responses.
A Grizzly Comeback in California?
Word count: 885 By Los Angeles Times, adapted by Newsela staff
A juvenile grizzly bear wanders the grounds of Yellowstone National Park in Wyoming. Photo: Brian
Sirimaturos/St. Louis Post-Dispatch/MCT
THREE RIVERS, Calif. — Black bears are a cherished part of the community here, a woodsy
northern California town that leads tourists to two national parks. The first question many visitors ask
of rangers is: “Where can I see a bear?”
Local shop owner Cindy Skeen said she often sees black bears around her house, finding them
more playful than dangerous.
That could change soon. Grizzlies — a larger, stronger and more dangerous cousin of black bears
— might be transplanted to California where they have not been seen for nine decades.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is considering an environmental group’s request to set aside
110,000 square miles for grizzly bears in California, Arizona, New Mexico, Utah and Colorado.
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It Could Take Years
Skeen was shocked to hear of the idea. “Oh, I don’t know ... people let their kids go hiking by
themselves out here,” she said.
“We get people from LA and Orange County and they are terrified of black bears,” she said. “And
grizzlies?”
If the agency decides to proceed with reintroducing grizzlies, there will come a set of scientific
reviews and public hearings that could take years.
Grizzly bears are iconic in California, where they are immortalized on the state flag. But the romance
appears to stop there. The big bears were hunted so efficiently that the last grizzly seen in the wild
was here in the Sierra in 1924.
Nationally, grizzlies were listed as a threatened species in 1975, and since then no one has been
certain where to put them. Grizzlies have been shunted to live within the remote confines of
Yellowstone National Park and the surrounding ecosystem.
Yellowstone is not an ideal home for grizzlies. It does not provide enough open country that the
bears love. Its 700 grizzlies share 3,400 square miles, which is enough room to support the bears
well enough that Fish and Wildlife is expected later this year to remove federal protections for
grizzlies in the region.
Finding similar space may not be possible in California.
Coastal Critters
Historically, grizzlies lived most densely along the California coast. They stayed in the river valleys
formed by the Sacramento, San Joaquin and American rivers and near current San Luis Obispo, Los
Osos and the Bay Area.
Those lush tule marshes and coastal valleys offered bears a cornucopia of food at every turn:
Pronghorn antelope and tule elk, an abundant acorn crop in the fall and plenty of big fish. Fat
grizzlies used to roam the Pacific’s beaches feasting on washed-up whale carcasses.
But those areas are now dense with people.
Noah Greenwald works for the Center for Biological Diversity, a group that asked government
officials to bring the grizzly back. He sees the southern end of the Sierra Nevada mountains in
eastern California as the best choice in the state. His group wants to release 300 to 400 bears in the
area on a stretch of public land with overlapping parks and wilderness areas.
Wildlife scientists say that many bears would require about 6,000 to 8,000 square miles of space.
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Unlikely And Unwise?
Encouraging the largest predator in America to live anywhere in a crowded state seems unlikely to
some experts and unwise to others.
“I can understand people wanting to see them here,” said Eric Loft, chief of wildlife for the California
Department of Fish and Wildlife. “But is it really suitable, given that California has nearly 40 million
people?”
Greenwald agreed with the need to proceed cautiously. “At this point what we are proposing is
studying the idea,” Greenwald said. “This is a long-term project.”
Even if grizzlies were reintroduced in the protected borders of national parks, they would certainly
wander out. This could potentially place them in conflict with people. Much of the bear's mortality in
the U.S. has been caused by a lack of human tolerance for the animals.
The grizzly deserves its fearsome reputation, especially in contrast to the black bear. But grizzly
hostility toward humans can be explained by evolution, scientists say.
Black bears evolved in forested areas, and climb trees if threatened. Grizzlies evolved in open
country, with few trees to climb, where the appropriate response to threats was fight or flight. They
sometimes run away, but if confronted at close range, they will fight to defend themselves.
"So Many People Here"
Among the factors critical to species survival is “social tolerance,” the willingness of humans to abide
with wild and sometimes dangerous animals. This could spell trouble for grizzlies.
Many Californians are used to living near black bears that engage in dumpster diving, pool hopping
and climbing trees. Wildlife authorities put ear tags on bears that grow used to humans. They can
either drive the animals away from housing developments or drug and relocate them.
Generally, wildlife authorities operate on a three-strikes system that gives bears a few chances to
associate with humans. Such a grace period would not likely be extended to grizzlies.
Dave Graber, a former scientist for the National Park Service, has traveled in grizzly areas around
the country. He can’t imagine Californians adapting to the bears.
To Graber and other biologists, the chance to reintroduce the grizzly is exciting, but ultimately
impossible.
“If there was place to put them, I would be arguing very strongly to put them there,” Graber said. "I’m
sorry there are so many people.
1. Select the exact sentence from the article that best supports the central idea of the article.
Rewrite it here.
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2. What is the MAIN reason grizzly bears are more hostile to humans than black bears?
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3. The article draws a connection between all of the following EXCEPT:
a. black bears and forests
b. grizzly bears and black bears
c. grizzly bears and whale carcasses
d. California’s increase in population and the mortality of bears
4. The article tries to explain the potential harm of bringing back grizzly bears to California by:
a. stating opinions
b. sharing anecdotes
c. making comparisons
d. providing a detailed description