View source for California grizzly bear

{{Short description|Extinct population of the brown bear}}
{{for|the University of California, Berkeley mascot|California Golden Bears}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=February 2024}}
{{Population taxobox
| name = California grizzly bear
| fossil_range = {{fossil range|Holocene}}
| image = Ursus arctos californicus, Santa Barbara, Natural History Museum.jpg
| image_caption = Specimen at the [[Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History]]
| status = EX
| extinct = 1924
| status_system = IUCN3.1
| status_ref = <ref>{{Cite web |last=IUCN |date=2016-02-02 |title=Ursus arctos: McLellan, B.N., Proctor, M.F., Huber, D. & Michel, S.: The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2017: e.T41688A121229971 |url=http://www.iucnredlist.org/details/41688/0 |access-date=2023-10-07 |language=en |doi=10.2305/iucn.uk.2017-3.rlts.t41688a121229971.en}}</ref>
| genus = Ursus
| species = arctos
| species_link = Brown bear
| subspecies = californicus
| trinomial=Ursus arctos californicus
| authority = (Merriam, 1896) <ref>{{Harvnb|Merriam|1896|pp=76–77}}</ref>
| synonyms =  {{Collapsible list|bullets=true|title=List:|''Ursus californicus'' <small>(Merriam, 1896)</small>
| ''Ursus horribilis californicus'' <small>Merriam, 1896</small>
| ''Ursus colusus'' <small>Merriam, 1914</small>
| ''Ursus henshawi'' <small>Merriam, 1914</small>
| ''Ursus klamathensis'' <small>Merriam, 1914</small>
| ''Ursus magister'' <small>Merriam, 1914</small>
| ''Ursus mendocinensis'' <small>Merriam, 1916</small>
| ''Ursus tularensis'' <small>Merriam, 1914</small>}}
}}
The '''California grizzly bear''' ('''''Ursus arctos californicus'''''<ref name="Mychajliw2024">{{cite journal|last1=Mychajliw|first1=Alexis M.|last2=Adams|first2=Andrea J.|last3=Brown|first3=Kevin C.|last4=Campbell|first4=Beau T.|last5=Hardesty-Moore|first5=Molly|last6=Welch|first6=Zoë S.|last7=Page|first7=Henry M.|last8=Southon|first8=John R.|last9=Cooper|first9=Scott D.|last10=Alagona|first10=Peter S.|year=2024|title=Coupled social and ecological change drove the historical extinction of the California grizzly bear (''Ursus arctos californicus'')|journal=Proceedings of the Royal Society B|volume=290|issue=2014 |article-number=20230921|doi=10.1098/rspb.2023.0921|pmid=38196370 |pmc=10777157 |url=https://static1.squarespace.com/static/59026d356b8f5be39ddfc2ca/t/659ecdc3d04efb38a240e718/1704906180458/mychajliw-et-al-2024-coupled-social-and-ecological-change-drove-the-historical-extinction-of-the-california-grizzly.pdf}}</ref>), also known as the '''California brown bear''',<ref name="Wooldridge2025">{{cite journal |last1=Wooldridrge |first1=T. Brock |last2=Wang |first2=Ming-Shan |last3=Saremi |first3=Nedda F. |last4=Kapp |first4=Joshua D. |last5=Moon |first5=Katherine L. |last6=Heintzman |first6=Peter D. |last7=Dumbacher |first7=John P. |last8=Alagona |first8=Peter S. |last9=Long |first9=Barney |last10=Shapiro |first10=Beth |year=2025 |title=Genomic data from the extinct California brown bear suggests a source population for reintroduction to California |journal=Journal of Heredity |volume=116 |issue=4 |article-number=esaf018 |doi=10.1093/jhered/esaf018|pmid=40272075 |pmc=12277570 |doi-access=free }}</ref> '''California golden bear''',<ref name="Hall1984">{{Citation |last=Hall |first=E. Raymond |date=10 August 1984 |title=Geographic variation among brown and grizzly bears (''Ursus arctos'') in North America |work=Special publication 13 |publisher=[[University of Kansas Museum of Natural History]] |url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/item/22659 |access-date=24 September 2011}}</ref> or '''chaparral bear''',<ref>{{cite book |last=Alagona |first=Peter S. |year=2013 |title=After the Grizzly: Endangered Species and the Politics of Place in California |publisher=University of California Press |isbn=9780520275065}}</ref> is an [[extinct]] [[population]] of the [[brown bear]],<ref>{{cite web |title=''Ursus arctos''. NatureServe Explorer 2.0 |url=https://explorer.natureserve.org/Taxon/ELEMENT_GLOBAL.2.102187/Ursus_arctos |website=explorer.natureserve.org |access-date=14 September 2023}}</ref> generally known (together with other [[North America]]n brown bear populations) as the [[grizzly bear]]. "Grizzly" could have meant "grizzled"{{snd}} that is, with golden and grey tips of the hair{{snd}} or "fear-inspiring" (as a phonetic spelling of "grisly").<ref>{{citation |last=Wright |first=William Henry |year=1909 |title=The Grizzly Bear: The Narrative of a Hunter-naturalist, Historical, Scientific and Adventurous }}</ref><ref name=rose>{{cite news| last = Rose| first = Ian| title = Frontier myth vilified the California grizzly. Science tells a new story.| newspaper = The Washington Post| date = April 25, 2024| url =https://www.washingtonpost.com/science/2024/04/25/california-grizzly-bear-extinct-reintroduce/?utm_campaign=ext_rweb&utm_medium=referral&utm_source=extension 
| access-date =April 27, 2024}}</ref> Nonetheless, after careful study, naturalist [[George Ord]] formally classified it in 1815 – not for its hair, but for its character – as ''Ursus horribilis'' ("terrifying bear").<ref>{{cite web |last=Eberling |first=Barry |date=2011-05-05 |title=Grisly indeed, Grizzly Island was aptly named |website=Daily Republic |url=https://www.dailyrepublic.com/archives/grisly-indeed-grizzly-island-was-aptly-named/article_cce818d3-d67b-52d4-abe1-0d261c1fb69f.html |access-date=5 May 2011}}</ref> Genetically, North American brown bears are closely related;<ref name="Miller2006">{{cite journal |last1=Miller |first1=C. |last2=Waits |first2=L. |last3=Joyce |first3=P. |journal=Mol Ecol |title=Phylogeography and mitochondrial diversity of extirpated brown bear (''Ursus arctos'') populations in the contiguous United States and Mexico |date=2006 |volume=15 |issue=14 |pages=4477–4485 |doi=10.1111/j.1365-294X.2006.03097.x |pmid=17107477|bibcode=2006MolEc..15.4477M |s2cid=7336900 }}</ref> in size and coloring, the California grizzly bear was much like the [[Kodiak bear]] of the southern coast of Alaska. The grizzly became a symbol of the [[Bear Flag Republic]], a moniker that was attached to the short-lived attempt by a group of U.S. settlers to break away from Mexico in 1846. Later, this rebel flag became the basis for the state [[flag of California]].<ref name="Storer & Tevis 1955">{{cite book |last1=Storer |first1=T.I. |last2=Tevis |first2=L.P. |title=California Grizzly |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=1QVZFQu01KcC&pg=PA149 |url-access=registration |year=1996 |publisher=[[University of California Press]] |location=[[Berkeley, California|Berkeley, CA]] |isbn=978-0-520-20520-8}} [https://archive.org/details/californiagrizzl00stor Alt URL]</ref>

== Taxonomy and evolution ==
A 1953 researcher stated, "The specific status of North American [[brown bear]]s (or grizzly bears) is one of the most complex problems of mammalian taxonomy. The difficulty stems directly from the work of [[Clinton Hart Merriam|Merriam]] (1918), who concluded that there are 86 forms of grizzlies (and brown bears) in North America."<ref name="Rausch 1953">{{cite journal |last=Rausch |first=Robert L. |title=On the Status of some Arctic Mammals |publisher=Faculty Publications from the Harold W. Manter Laboratory of Parasitology. Paper 497 |journal=Journal of the Arctic Institute of North America |date=July 1953 |volume=6 |issue=2}}</ref>

North American brown bears were taxonomically grouped as a species apart from other bear species, until DNA testing revealed that they should properly be grouped in the same species as the other brown bears.<ref name="Miller2006"/> Grizzlies living in California had been classified by Merriam into many subspecies.<ref>{{Citation |last=Merriam |first=C. Hart |author-link=Clinton Hart Merriam |date=13 August 1914 |title=Description of Thirty apparently New Grizzly and Brown Bears from North America |journal=[[Proceedings of the Biological Society of Washington]] |volume=27 |pages=173–196 |url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/3334159 |access-date=24 September 2011}}</ref><ref>{{Citation |last=Merriam |first=C. Hart |author-link=Clinton Hart Merriam |date=6 September 1916 |title=Nineteen Apparently New Grizzly and Brown Bears from Western America |journal=[[Proceedings of the Biological Society of Washington]] |volume=29 |pages=133–154 |url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/3336662 |access-date=24 September 2011}}</ref> Over time, these were all synonymized into a single subspecies, ''Ursus arctos californicus''.<ref name="Hall1984"/> A study based on mitochondrial DNA suggests that the only genetically anomalous grouping of grizzly bears is the [[ABC Islands bear]], implying that previous grizzly bear subspecies designations are unwarranted.<ref name="Miller2006"/> However, a formal taxonomic synonymy was not performed, and mitochondrial introgression is known to be an issue in brown bears.<ref>{{cite journal|last1=de Jong|first1=Menno J.|last2=Niamir|first2=Aidin|last3=Wolf|first3=Magnus|last4=Kitchener|first4=Andrew C.|last5=Lecomte|first5=Nicolas|last6=Seryodkin|first6=Ivan V.|last7=Fain|first7=Steven F.|last8=Hagen|first8=Snorre B.|last9=Saarma|first9=Urmas|last10=Janke|first10=Axel|year=2023|title=Range-wide whole-genome resequencing of the brown bear reveals drivers of intraspecies divergence|journal=Communications Biology|volume=6|issue=1 |page=153 |article-number=15|doi=10.1038/s42003-023-04514-w|pmid=36746982 |pmc=9902616 |hdl=11250/3092374|hdl-access=free}}</ref><ref name="Mychajliw2024"/> Pending further taxonomic resolution, the subspecies is provisionally accepted as separate.<ref name="Mychajliw2024"/><ref name="Wooldridge2025"/>

A recent genomic study recovered the California grizzly within a clade of [[grizzly bear]]s present in the [[contiguous United States]]. The grizzly bear population present in [[Yellowstone National Park]] was identified as most closely related to the California grizzly, and that the California population diverged approximately 10,000 years ago.<ref name="Wooldridge2025"/> The oldest fossil remains of grizzly bears in California were recovered from the [[La Brea tar pits]].<ref>{{cite journal |last=Kurtén |first=Björn |date=1960-12-15 |title=A skull of the grizzly bear (''Ursus arctos'' L.) from Pit 10, Rancho La Brea |journal=Contributions in Science |volume=39 |pages=1–7 |doi=10.5962/p.241036 |url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/part/241036|doi-access=free }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=The California grizzly bear |website=La Brea Tar Pits & Museum |url=https://tarpits.org/california-grizzly-bear}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |first1=Bj&#246;rn |last1=Kurt&#233;n |first2=Elaine |last2=Anderson |date=1974-11-27 |title=Association of ''Ursus arctos'' and ''Arctodus simus'' (Mammalia: Ursidae) in the late Pleistocene of Wyoming |url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/part/32631 |journal=Breviora |language=English |volume=426 |pages=1–6 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250413063539/https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/part/32631 |archive-date=April 13, 2025 |access-date=July 30, 2025 |url-status=live }}</ref> This fossil specimen, weighing ~455 kilograms (1,003 lb),<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Lambert |first1=W. David |last2=Holling |first2=Crawford S. |date=1998-03-01 |title=Causes of Ecosystem Transformation at the End of the Pleistocene: Evidence from Mammal Body-Mass Distributions |url=https://doi.org/10.1007/s100219900012 |journal=Ecosystems |language=en |volume=1 |issue=2 |pages=157–175 |doi=10.1007/s100219900012 |issn=1432-9840|url-access=subscription }}</ref> is dated to the [[Greenlandian]] stage, over 7,500 years ago.<ref name="Mychajliw2024"/>

== Appearance ==
[[File:Description iconographique comparée du squelette et du système dentaire des mammifères récents et fossiles (Ursus arctos californicus).jpg|thumb|250px|Illustration of a California grizzly bear skeleton]]
The California grizzly was historically considered an enormous bear. Father [[Pedro Font]], an early missionary, described the local grizzly bears, writing, "He was horrible, fierce, large, and fat."<ref name="amiller" /> In the 1800s, multiple newspaper accounts mentioned bears weighing well over {{convert|1,000|lb}}; the hind foot of one particular adult male grizzly was measured at {{convert|12|in}} long by {{convert|8|in}} wide, and claws were often {{convert|2|in}} wide by {{convert|3.5|in}} long.<ref>{{Cite web |last1=Skillen|first1=Jennie|last2=Medeiros|first2=Joe|year=2018|title=Journal of Sierra Nevada History & Biography |url=https://www.sierracollege.edu/ejournals/jscnhm/v6n2/grizzly.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211113072811/https://www.sierracollege.edu/ejournals/jscnhm/v6n2/grizzly.html |archive-date=2021-11-13 |access-date=2021-11-13 |website=www.sierracollege.edu}}</ref> Measurements of museum specimens, however, demonstrate that this bear was no larger than those present in the rest of North America, with average body size estimates ranging from {{convert|104|kg}} to {{convert|252|kg}} depending on methodology.<ref name="Mychajliw2024"/>

The fur of the California grizzly bear has been described as golden brown,<ref>{{Cite web |title=Animal – California Grizzly Bear {{!}} California State Capitol Museum |date=October 13, 2021 |url=https://capitolmuseum.ca.gov/state-symbols/state-animal-grizzly-bear/ |access-date=2023-10-17 |language=en}}</ref> leading to the occasional name "California golden bear". The captive individual "Monarch" had a dark brown, almost black, pelt.<ref>{{cite web|last=Fimrite|first=Peter|date=2011-05-03|title=CA grizzly bear Monarch: a symbol of suffering|url=https://www.sfgate.com/news/article/ca-grizzly-bear-monarch-a-symbol-of-suffering-2372855.php|website=SFGate|publisher=Hearst Communications, Inc.}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|last=Karr|first=Rodney G.|title=The Monarch Bear|website=The Monarch Bear Institute|url=https://www.monarchbear.org/monarch/}}</ref>

== Diet and behavior ==
The diet of the California grizzly bear was diverse, ranging from plant sources like grasses, seeds, berries, and acorns, to animal sources such as elk, deer, [[salmon]], [[Rainbow trout|steelhead]], and carrion.<ref name="BearConservation">{{cite web |title=California grizzly bear (extinct) |url=http://www.bearconservation.org.uk/california-grizzly-bear-extinct/ |website=Bear Conservation |access-date=2018-10-16}}</ref><ref>{{cite web | url = https://www.losaltosca.gov/sites/default/files/fileattachments/historical_commission/page/36161/hri_section_ii_historic_context.pdf |title=Los Altos: The Historical Context| publisher=The City of Los Altos |date=April 2011 |page=II-1}}</ref><ref name="amiller">{{cite web |last1=Miller |first1=Adam |title=The Folklore of Big Sur |url=https://www.folksinging.org/traces-of-the-storyteller/ |access-date=17 February 2022 |date=14 January 2021 |archive-date=17 February 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220217055300/https://www.folksinging.org/traces-of-the-storyteller/ |url-status=dead }}</ref> Isotopic study indicates that the majority of the diet consisted of plant matter, as with other grizzly bear populations.<ref name="Mychajliw2024"/> Anecdotal reports from Spanish explorers reported California grizzly bears scavenging on beached [[whale]] carcasses.<ref name="Storer & Tevis 1955"/><ref>{{cite web|last=Crane|first=Brent|date=2019-03-11|title=Grizzly Bears Might Return to California. Is the State Ready?|website=Discover Magazine|url=https://www.discovermagazine.com/planet-earth/grizzly-bears-might-return-to-california-is-the-state-ready}}</ref> After the introduction of European livestock, California grizzly bears increasingly incorporated cattle into their diets.<ref name="Mychajliw2024"/> California grizzly bears were primarily solitary, except for mothers with cubs, but foraging groups of up to 40 have been reported.<ref name="BearConservation"/><ref name="Grinnell1937"/>

== Distribution and habitat ==
{{Further|Distribution of brown bears}}
Prior to [[History of California before 1900#Spanish colonization and governance (1697–1821)|Spanish settlement in the second half of the 1700s]], it is estimated that 10,000 grizzly bears inhabited what is modern-day California.<ref name="Carroll2001"/><ref name="VCHistory">{{cite web |title=Valley Center History Museum |url=http://www.vchistory.org/index.php/standing-exhibits/grizzly-bear/ |access-date=2018-10-16}}</ref> It is thought that the bears lived across almost the entirety of the state, save its most southeastern and northeastern corners.<ref name="Storer & Tevis 1955"/><ref>{{Cite web |last=Heinz |first=Mark |date=2024-02-11 |title=Although A Grizzly Is On Its Flag, California Unlikely To Reintroduce Grizzlies |url=https://cowboystatedaily.com/2024/02/11/if-california-ever-wants-grizzlies-dont-expect-them-to-come-from-wyoming/ |access-date=2024-02-11 |website=Cowboy State Daily |language=en}}</ref> Probably the southernmost records for this subspecies are from the [[Sierra de Juárez]], during the 18th century. The bear was most abundant in chaparral, oak woodland, and hardwood forests.<ref name="Storer & Tevis 1955"/>

== Relationship with humans ==

=== European contact ===

{{multiple image
| align             = right
| direction         = horizontal
| total_width       = 400
| image1            = Monarch the bear.jpg
| alt1              = 
| image2            = Taxidermied grizzly cub.jpg
| alt2              = 
| footer            = Monarch (left), a specimen preserved at the [[California Academy of Sciences]], and a [[taxidermy]] of one of his two short-lived cubs (right)
}}

The first documented sighting of a grizzly bear in California occurred in 1603 when a [[Sebastián Vizcaíno|Spanish explorer]] near [[Monterey, California|Monterey]] described how bears came down to feed on a whale carcass stranded on the beach. However, his reports were not widely circulated, so the existence of grizzlies in California was not well-known to Europeans until the eighteenth century.<ref name="Storer & Tevis 1955"/>

Western Europeans' first well-circulated encounters with California grizzly bears are found in diaries kept by several members of the 1769 [[Portola expedition]], the first European land exploration of what is now the state of California. Several place names that include the Spanish word for bear (''oso'') trace their origins back to that first overland expedition (e.g. [[Los Osos, California#Origin of name|Los Osos]]). As the settled frontier of [[New Spain]] was extended northward, settlers began to populate California and establish large cattle herds as the main industry. The ranchers' livestock were easy prey for the largely herbivorous-omnivorous grizzly bears found across the state. In turn, grizzly populations increased around human settlements.<ref name="Storer & Tevis 1955"/> By eating their livelihood, and scaring them, the grizzlies became enemies of the [[Ranchos of California|rancheros]]. ''[[Vaquero]]s'' hunted the grizzlies, often roping and capturing them alive to be pitted against other animals in public battles ([[Blood sport|bloodsports]]).<ref name="Storer & Tevis 1955" />

In 1866, a grizzly bear described as weighing as much as {{convert|2200|lb|abbr=out}} was killed in what is present-day [[Valley Center, California]], in the north-central area of [[San Diego County, California|San Diego County]]. The incident was recalled in 1932 by Catherine E. Lovett Smith, who witnessed the bear's killing on her family's ranch when she was just six years old. If its measurements are accurate, this particular bear was the biggest bear ever found in California and one of the largest specimens of any bear species ever recorded. (Other sources confirm Lovett Smith's account of the bear, but differ as to its exact size.) Her telling of that bear is part of the oral history of "Bear Valley", the original name for Valley Center.<ref name="VCHistory" /> The bear was prominent in the [[Big Sur]] region of the central California coast. [[Posts, California|Frank Post]], born in 1859 on the Soberanes Ranch in Big Sur, remembered when his family lived at Soberanes Creek, during the American Civil War – recalling the "Great Sur Bears".<ref name="amiller" /> Inhabiting most of the state, both inland and coastally, it is likely the California grizzly's southernmost range in the state overlapped with that of the now-extinct [[Mexican grizzly bear]], as well.

=== Extinction ===

[[File:Bear and Bull Fight Illustration from The San Francisco Call, 1911.jpg|upright|left|thumb|An illustration of a bear bullfight by HM Stoops. Published in ''[[The San Francisco Call]]'' on January 15, 1911.]]
In the late 1700s, Spanish ranchers placed a poisoned "bait ball" made of suet or swine entrails filled with a lethal dose of [[strychnine]] which they hung from the branches of a tree within reach of the bear but out of reach of dogs and children.<ref name="amiller"/><ref>{{cite book|last1=Cross|first1=Robert|title=Big Sur Tales|date=2010|location=Bloomington, IN|publisher=AuthorHouse|isbn=978-1456711498}}</ref>{{rp|21}} Mexican settlers captured bears for bear and bull fights and they also sold their skins for 6 to 10 pesos to trading ships. Bear Trap Canyon near [[Bixby Creek Bridge|Bixby Creek]] was one of their favorite sites for trapping grizzly bears along the central California coast.<ref>Williams,  Honey ''Redwood Sanctuary'' Mid -Coast Investments</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Stories {{!}} California History - Juan becomes a Rancher|url=http://thisweekincaliforniahistory.com/stories/|website=thisweekincaliforniahistory.com|date=4 September 2013 |access-date=16 March 2018}}</ref> These bears were even turned into furniture, such as a chair gifted to President Andrew Johnson in 1865.<ref>{{cite AV media |title=The Grizzly-Bear Chair Presented, Sept. 8, 1865, to Andrew Johnson, President U.S., by Seth Kinman, the California Hunter and Trapper. Washington, D.C |publisher=M.B. Brady & Co. |date=1865 |url=https://cdn2.picryl.com/photo/2013/07/18/1865-seth-johnsons-grizzly-bear-chair-5e0b7a-640.jpg}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=Seth Kinman; The Pacific coast Nimrod who gives chairs to presidents |date=1885-12-09 |newspaper=New York Times |page=10 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1885/12/09/archives/seth-kinman-the-pacific-coast-nimrod-who-gives-chairs-to-presidents.html}}</ref>

[[Bear-baiting]] events flourished as popular spectacles in 19th century California.<ref name=SundaySport>{{cite web |last=Hanne |first=Jake Lee |title=The Brutal Bull-and-Bear Fights of 19th-Century California |date=23 October 2017 |website=Atlas Obscura |url=https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/bull-and-bear-fights-california |access-date=2018-10-16}}</ref> Bloody fights that pitted bears against [[bull]]s<ref name="Storer & Tevis 1955"/> often inspired betting as to whether [[Bear versus bull|the bear or the bull]] would win. One persistently popular, but [[False etymology|false]]<ref>"Bull, n1 III.8.a." OED Online. Oxford University Press, December 2014. Web. 20 January 2015.</ref> phrase origin story related to these fights stems from famous 19th-century newspaperman [[Horace Greeley]]. While visiting California, Greeley allegedly witnessed such a fight, and supposedly gave the modern stock market its "[[bear market|bear]]" and "[[bull market|bull]]" nicknames based on the fighting styles of the two animals: the bear swipes downward while the bull hooks upward. In truth, the phrase's origins predate Greeley's 1859 journey to California by at least 100 years,<ref name=MWBullandBear>{{cite web |title=The History of 'Bull' and 'Bear' Markets |url=https://www.merriam-webster.com/words-at-play/the-origins-of-the-bear-and-bull-in-the-stock-market |website=Merriam-Webster |access-date=2018-10-16}}</ref> but the myth of the California connection persists.

[[File:1936XXXX-FS-Angeles-FED-374641.png|thumb|right|upright|Specimen shot in 1916]]
''[[The Monterey County Herald]]'' noted on July 4, 1874:

{{blockquote|Last Monday, Captain A. Smith, who resides about ten miles from town, in the Carmel Valley, succeeded in poisoning a large grizzly bear. Bruin had been annoying the neighborhood by destroying cattle, etc., for several years past, and all efforts to exterminate him seem futile. In some manner, however, he was induced partake of that "cold pizen" the captain had prepared for his special benefit. He is not likely to repeat his experiment.<ref name="amiller"/>}}
In the early to mid 19th century, livestock from the [[ranchos of California]] provided an abundant food source for the bears, allowing the grizzly population to expand rapidly. However, the cattle population was greatly diminished following extreme drought and flooding in the 1860s and 1870s, leading to a reduction in the number of grizzlies.<ref name=":1">{{Cite book |last=Davis |first=Mike |title=Ecology of fear: Los Angeles and the imagination of disaster |date=2000 |publisher=Picador |isbn=978-0-330-37655-6 |location=London}}</ref> This coincided with an increased interest in bear hunting, both for sport and commercial purposes. Grizzly bear meat became a mainstay on restaurant menus in the [[San Gabriel Valley|San Gabriel]] area; according to [[Mike Davis (scholar)|Mike Davis]], “The paws from adult bears and the flesh from young cubs were deemed particular delicacies.”<ref name=":1" />

European settlers paid bounties on the bears who regularly preyed on livestock until the early 20th century.<ref name="woolfenden">{{cite book |last1=Woolfenden |first1= John |title=Big Sur: A Battle for the Wilderness 1869–1981 |year=1981 |publisher= The Boxwood Press |location= Pacific Grove, California|page=72}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.montereycountyweekly.com/news/local_news/a-dirty-journey-to-the-lost-city-of-the-santa/article_5ff3137f-0c6a-5847-ae0c-b8ea5e5fee66.html|title=A Dirty Journey to the Lost City of the Santa Lucias| first1=Stuart|last1=Thornton|date=February 2001 |website=Monterey County Weekly}}</ref>{{rp|4}} Absolom (Rocky) Beasley hunted grizzly bears throughout the [[Santa Lucia Mountains]] and claimed to have killed 139 bears in his lifetime.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.ventanawild.org/news/ss99/grizzlies.html|title=DCQ Summer Solstice 1999 -- Times Past|website=www.ventanawild.org|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090612122601/http://www.ventanawild.org/news/ss99/grizzlies.html|archive-date=2009-06-12}}</ref> Noted California [[Mountain men|mountain man]] [[Seth Kinman]] claimed to have shot over 800 grizzly bears in a 20-year period in the areas surrounding present day [[Humboldt County, California|Humboldt County]]. One prospector in Southern California, [[William F. Holcomb]] (nicknamed "Grizzly Bill" Holcomb), was particularly well known for hunting grizzly bears in what is now [[San Bernardino County, California|San Bernardino County]].

During September 1897, in the mountains between Inwood and Mt. Lassen, [[Shasta County, California|Shasta County]],  21-year-old Elias Weigart and his dog encountered a huge California grizzly whose front track measured {{convert|11|in|cm}} and the rear, {{convert|19|in|cm}}. The bear died after Weigart emptied his Winchester 38-55 into the beast at close range.<ref name="Last Grizzly in Shasta">{{cite web |title=Last Grizzly in Shasta |url=https://www.fieldandstream.com/hunting/last-grizzly-bear-california-shasta-county/ |date=31 August 2022 |website=Field & Stream |publisher=Recurrent Ventures |access-date=4 September 2022}}</ref>

In 1920, the [[Shuteye Peak]] area of [[Madera County]] was home to one of the last California grizzlies, nicknamed 'Two Toes,' who lost part of his front foot in a trap and evaded hunters for years.<ref>{{cite news |author=<!--not stated--> |date=January 1, 1920 |title=Last of the Grizzlies is Relentlessly Hunted |url=https://cdnc.ucr.edu/?a=d&d=SJMN19200101.2.37&srpos=9&e=-------en--20--1--txt-txIN-%22shuteye+peak%22-------1 |work=San Jose Mercury News |access-date=August 14, 2022}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |author=<!--not stated--> |date=January 9, 1920 |title=Hunt Lost Grizzle in High Sierra Mountains |url=https://cdnc.ucr.edu/?a=d&d=LAH19200109.2.522&srpos=1&e=-------en--20--1--txt-txIN-two+toes+grizzly-------1|work=Los Angeles Herald |access-date=August 14, 2022}}</ref>

The last hunted California grizzly bear was shot in [[Tulare County, California]], in August 1922, although no body, skeleton or pelt was ever produced. Less than 75 years after the discovery of gold in 1848, almost every grizzly bear in California had been tracked down and killed. In 1924, what was thought to be a grizzly was spotted in [[Sequoia National Park]] for the last time and thereafter, grizzlies were never seen again in California.<ref name="VCHistory"/><ref name=star>{{cite news |last=Johnson |first=Brett |date=August 9, 2014 |title=Great grizzly bear hunt in Santa Paula backcountry reaps state flag icon, tall tales |newspaper=[[Ventura County Star]] |url=http://www.vcstar.com/news/special/outdoors/great-grizzly-bear-hunt-in-santa-paula-backcountry-reaps-state-flag-icon-tall-tales-ep-543959500-351277721.html |access-date=5 May 2016 |archive-date=August 25, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160825044142/http://www.vcstar.com/news/special/outdoors/great-grizzly-bear-hunt-in-santa-paula-backcountry-reaps-state-flag-icon-tall-tales-ep-543959500-351277721.html |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref name="Grinnell1937">{{cite book |last1=Grinnell |first1=J. |last2=Dixon |first2=J. |last3=Linsdale. |first3=J. |title=Fur bearing animals of California |year=1937 |publisher=University of California Press}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Orona |first=Ajay |date=2023-03-27 |title=A Grizzly Bear Comeback? |url=https://www.altaonline.com/dispatches/a43127739/grizzly-bear-return-california-peter-alagona/ |access-date=2023-10-17 |website=Alta Online |language=en-US}}</ref>

=== Reintroduction ===
Support to reintroduce grizzlies to the state is growing.<ref name=":0">{{Cite journal |last1=A. |first1=Lee |last2=Laird |first2=A.M. |last3=Brann |first3=L. |last4=Coxon |first4=C. |last5=Hamilton |first5=A.J. |last6=Lawhon |first6=L.A. |last7=Martin |first7=J.A. |last8=Rehnberg |first8=N. |last9=Tyrrell |first9=B.P. |last10=Welch |first10=Z. |last11=Hale |first11=B. |last12=Alagona |first12=P.S. |date=2021 |title=The Ethics of Reintroducing Large Carnivores: The Case of the California Grizzly |journal=Conservation & Society |volume=19 |issue=1 |pages=80–90 |doi=10.4103/cs.cs_20_131 |doi-access=free |jstor=26979980 |issn=0972-4923}}</ref> Despite having one of the largest [[American black bear]] populations in the nation, California still has habitat that can sustain about 500 grizzlies; it is thought that the presence of an additional large mammal could curb overpopulation of the smaller black bear, which often is involved in human-bear conflicts, as it enters human settlements in pursuit of food and trash.<ref name="Carroll2001">{{cite book |title=Large Mammal Restoration: Ecological and Sociological Challenges in the 21st Century |year=2001 |publisher=[[Island Press]] |location=[[Washington, D.C.]] |isbn=978-1-5596-3817-3 |pages=[https://archive.org/details/largemammalresto0000unse/page/25 25–46] |editor-last1=Maehr|editor-first1=David|editor-last2=Noss|editor-first2=Reed F.|editor-last3=Larkin|editor-first3=Jeffery L.|last1=Carroll|first1=Carlos|last2=Noss|first2=Reed F.|last3=Schumaker|first3=Nathan|last4=Paquet|first4=Paul C.|edition=1 |chapter=Is the Return of the Wolf, Wolverine, and Grizzly Bear to Oregon and California Biologically Feasible? |url=https://archive.org/details/largemammalresto0000unse/page/n1/mode/2up |chapter-url=https://www.klamathconservation.org/docs/carrolletal2001b.pdf}}</ref> In 2014, the [[United States Fish and Wildlife Service|U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service]] received, and subsequently rejected, a petition to reintroduce grizzly bears to California.<ref>{{cite web|first=Todd|last=Woody|title=A New Move to Bring the Grizzly Bear Back to California|url=http://www.takepart.com/article/2014/06/20/new-move-bring-back-grizzly-bear-california|date=20 Jun 2014|publisher=Participant Media|work=TakePart|access-date=10 November 2015|archive-date=2 December 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191202021317/https://www.takepart.com/article/2014/06/20/new-move-bring-back-grizzly-bear-california/|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref name="Fresno Bee 2014">{{cite news |author=The Bee Editorial Board |title=EDITORIAL: Grizzly bear homecoming? |url=http://www.fresnobee.com/2014/07/19/4031838/our-viewsgrizzly-bear-homecoming.html |access-date=28 Sep 2015 |newspaper=The Fresno Bee |date=19 Jul 2014 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140722193022/http://www.fresnobee.com:80/2014/07/19/4031838/our-viewsgrizzly-bear-homecoming.html?sp=/99/274/ |archive-date=2014-07-22}}</ref> In 2015, the Center for Biological Diversity launched a petition aimed at the [[California]] state legislature to reintroduce the grizzly bear to the state.<ref>{{cite web|title=Where are the Bears?|url=http://action.biologicaldiversity.org/p/dia/action3/common/public/?action_KEY=17314|publisher=Center for Biological Diversity|access-date=February 28, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160310004104/http://action.biologicaldiversity.org/p/dia/action3/common/public/?action_KEY=17314|archive-date=March 10, 2016|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|first=John|last=Platt|title=Waving the Flag for the Grizzly's Return to California|url=http://www.takepart.com/article/2015/07/28/environmentalists-want-reintroduce-grizzly-bear-california|date=28 Jul 2015|publisher=Participant Media|work=TakePart|access-date=February 28, 2016|archive-date=2 December 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191202062609/https://www.takepart.com/article/2015/07/28/environmentalists-want-reintroduce-grizzly-bear-california/|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=http://ww2.kqed.org/science/2016/05/02/grizzly-bears-are-everywhere-in-california-but-the-woods/ |title=Move to Return Grizzly Bears to California Will Be an Uphill Push|work=[[KQED Inc.|KQED]] Science |first=Craig |last=Miller|date=May 2, 2016 |access-date=5 May 2016}}</ref>

In anticipation of the 2024 centennial marking the final recorded sighting of a wild grizzly bear in California, a collaborative effort was initiated by scientists affiliated with the Research Network, prominent leaders from California Tribes, and advocates associated with conservation nonprofits. This initiative resulted in the establishment of the California Grizzly Alliance.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Bring Back the Bears |url=https://www.biologicaldiversity.org/species/mammals/grizzly_bear/bring_back_the_bears.html |access-date=2023-10-24 |website=www.biologicaldiversity.org}}</ref>

Despite these efforts, however, their reintroduction remains controversial. Arguments against grizzly bear reintroduction emphasize the potential for rare but significant harm, such as attacks causing injuries or fatalities. Those who deem any harm, especially loss of human life, as morally unacceptable view the reintroduction in California as an intolerable threat, regardless of individual risk.<ref name=":0" />

=== Symbolism ===
[[File:Flag of California.svg|thumb|The California grizzly bear is featured on the [[flag of California]]]]

The California grizzly bear is one of the state's most visible and enduring symbols, adorning both the state flag and seal. The Bear Flag first flew in 1846 as a symbol of the short-lived [[Bear Flag Revolt|California Republic]]. A second version was adopted as the state flag by the state legislature in 1911.<ref name=BearFlag>{{cite web|last=Trinkle|first=William J.|title=A Brief History of the Bear Flag|url=http://www.bearflagmuseum.org/History.html|work=The Bear Flag Museum|access-date=7 May 2014|location=Sacramento, CA USA|date=4 August 2013|quote=The flag soon came to be called the “Bear Flag” and the insurgency came to be called the “Bear Flag Revolt"|archive-date=September 20, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190920155202/http://www.bearflagmuseum.org/History.html|url-status=dead}}</ref> The bear symbol became a permanent part of the [[Seal of California|state seal]] in 1849.<ref>{{cite web |title=The Great Seal of the State of California |website=State of California Capitol Museum |date=October 19, 2021 |url=https://capitolmuseum.ca.gov/state-symbols/seal/}}</ref> The California grizzly bear was designated the official state animal in 1953.<ref name="ca.gov">{{cite web |title=History and Culture – State Symbols |publisher=[[California State Library]] |url=http://www.library.ca.gov/history/symbols.html |access-date=23 September 2011 |archive-date=5 January 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190105214315/http://www.library.ca.gov/california-history/state-symbols/ |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref>{{Citation |author=California State Legislature |year=1911 |chapter=An act to select adopt the bear flag as the state flag of California |title=The statutes of California and amendments to the codes passed at the thirty-ninth session of the legislature |location=[[San Francisco]] |publisher=[[Bancroft-Whitney]] |page=6 |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=U6w3AAAAIAAJ&pg=PA6 |access-date=24 September 2011 |author-link=California State Legislature}}</ref> The bear is celebrated in name and as mascot of the sports teams of the [[University of California, Berkeley]] (the [[California Golden Bears]]), and of the [[University of California, Los Angeles]] (the [[UCLA Bruins]]) and in the mascot of [[University of California, Riverside]] (the [[UC Riverside Highlanders]]). The [[California Maritime Academy]] operates a training ship named [[Golden Bear (ship)|Golden Bear]].

The name "[[Yosemite]]" likely originates from the indigenous [[Ahwahneechee]] word for grizzly bear, "Oo-soo-mah-ty" or "Yo-hem-ah-ty," which directly refers to the animal.<ref>{{cite book |last=Hartesveldt |first=Richard J. |title=Yosemite Valley Place Names |year=1955 |url=https://www.yosemite.ca.us/library/yosemite_valley_place_names/ |access-date=2023-12-17}}</ref> [[James M. Hutchings]], a pioneer in promoting [[Yosemite National Park|Yosemite]] tourism, named the monumental sequoia [[Grizzly Giant]].<ref>{{Cite book | last = Hutchings | first = James M. | title = Scenes of Wonder and Curiosity in California | year = 1862 | chapter = The Mammoth Trees of Mariposa and Frezno | url = https://www.yosemite.ca.us/library/scenes_of_wonder_and_curiosity/mariposa_big_trees.html#page_149 | access-date = 2023-12-19}}</ref> He chose the name to evoke the formidable presence, massive stature, and rugged independence of the California grizzly bear.<ref>{{Cite book | last = Hutchings | first = James M. | title = In the Heart of the Sierras | year = 1888 | chapter = The Berenda Route to Yo Semite | quote = The Grizzly Giant. And it looks at you as defiantly as the oldest veteran grizzly bear ever could.  | url = https://www.yosemite.ca.us/library/in_the_heart_of_the_sierras/18.html | access-date = 2023-12-19}}</ref>

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

== Further reading ==
*{{cite book |last1=Brown |first1=David E. |title=The Grizzly in the Southwest: Documentary of an Extinction |date=1996 |publisher=University of Oklahoma Press |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=fTVBI9bmH4wC&q=pissini+Sierra+Madre |isbn=978-0-8061-2880-1}}
*{{Citation |last=Merriam |first=C. Hart |author-link=Clinton Hart Merriam |date=13 April 1896 |title=Preliminary Synopsis of the American Bears |journal=[[Proceedings of the Biological Society of Washington]] |volume=10 |pages=65–83 + plates IV–VI |url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/10205985 |access-date=23 September 2011}}
*{{MSW3 Carnivora |id=14000974 |pages=589 |heading=Subspecies ''Ursus arctos californicus''}}
*{{Citation |last1=Miller |first1=Craig R. |last2=Waits |first2=Lisette P. |last3=Joyce |first3=Paul |date=December 2006 |title=Phylogeography and mitochondrial diversity of extirpated brown bear (''Ursus arctos'') populations in the contiguous United States and Mexico |journal=[[Molecular Ecology]] |volume=15 |issue=14 |pages=4477–4485 |doi=10.1111/j.1365-294X.2006.03097.x |url=http://www.webpages.uidaho.edu/~joyce/davis/Miller%20bear.pdf |access-date=24 September 2011 |pmid=17107477 |bibcode=2006MolEc..15.4477M |s2cid=7336900 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120324205052/http://www.webpages.uidaho.edu/~joyce/davis/Miller%20bear.pdf |archive-date=24 March 2012 |url-status=dead |df=dmy-all }}
*{{Citation |last1=Solnit |first1=Rebecca |last2=Caron |first2=Mona |year=2010 |title=A California Bestiary |location=Berkeley, CA |publisher=[[Heyday Books]] |isbn=978-1-59714-125-3 |pages=13–15}}

== External links ==
{{Commons|Ursus arctos californicus}}{{Wikispecies|Ursus arctos californicus}}
*{{ITIS|id=726987|taxon=''Ursus arctos californicus''}}
*{{EOL | 2=Ursus arctos californicus Merriam, 1896}}

{{Arctos}}
{{Taxonbar|from=Q2565286}}

[[Category:Grizzly bears]]
[[Category:Extinct bears]]
[[Category:Carnivorans of North America]]
[[Category:Mammals of the United States]]
[[Category:Mammals of Mexico]]
[[Category:Mammal extinctions since 1500]]
[[Category:Extinct animals of the United States]]
[[Category:Extinct mammals of North America]]
[[Category:Species made extinct by human activities]]
[[Category:Symbols of California]]
[[Category:Mammals described in 1896]]
[[Category:Taxa named by Clinton Hart Merriam]]