Description: The largest carnivore in the Southwest. Easily distinguished from the black bear by the prominent hump on the shoulders. Total length 6 to 7 feet. Tail so short as to be unnoticeable. Height at shoulders 3 to 3½ feet. Weight 325 to 850 pounds. Color of the southwestern grizzlies is variable, ranging from yellowish brown to nearly black, but has a characteristic grizzled effect caused by the white-tipped hairs scattered through the fur. This is especially noticeable along the back. The grizzly, though massively built, gives an impression of leanness. The shoulders are higher than the posterior, giving the animal a streamlined appearance. The head is large and round with a square, uptilted muzzle. The legs are extremely powerful, the feet large and with formidable claws, those of the front feet being up to 4 inches long. The young will number from one to three, with two being most common. Grizzlies breed every 2 or 3 years. Probably no mammal in the United States is more certain soon to become extinct than these great bears. Many factors contribute toward this end, chief among them being the low reproduction rate and the rapid decrease of its range because of an increase in stock raising and agriculture. Ousted from its former haunts, the species is now found chiefly in only the few areas where it is rigidly protected. It seems extremely unlikely that it can long survive this reduction of its once unlimited range. This is the culmination of a program of destruction wrought on the grizzly since penetration of the white man into the West. It but follows the disappearance of other, less well known bears which lived in the Southwest at that time. When the Mountain Men came into the West in the period from 1800 to 1850 they found a huge, light-colored bear roaming the foothills of the desert country. For want of a better name they called it the “gray bear.” From the accounts of that time it is now assumed that it was a grizzly; at any rate, it was said to have been extremely ferocious, a trait which led to its downfall. In the space of about 70 years this animal was discovered, hunted and exterminated, all without a specimen of any kind being preserved. Today not a trace of this big predator remains. Its fate illustrates the usual result of contact between a dangerous, highly specialized animal and man. The question which arises is, should any group of men ever be allowed such control over a wilderness that they are able to exterminate the fauna and flora to the detriment of succeeding generations? The answer seems obvious if we consider that “we but hold these things in trust.” [Illustration: grizzly bear]