Threatened Species. A number of species listed as 'threatened' on the Endangered Species Act live in Grand Teton National Park. The best known of those species is the grizzly bear (Ursos arctos). Nearly eliminated from the ecosystem due to hunting and eradication programs, intensive conservation efforts over the last 40 years allowed grizzly bears to make a remarkable recovery. Today, an estimated 800 grizzly bears live in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem. Whitebark pine trees produce nuts rich in fat and protein, These nuts are a significant source of nutrition for grizzly bears during hyperphagia - the intensive feeding that bears go through prior to hibernation. Two main risks to these sentinels of the high country are mountain pine beetles, a native species, and blister rust, an invasive disease. Verbenone packets, the white packets in the picture, are attached to pine trees to trick mountain pine beetles into infesting another tree.
grizzly bear (Ursos arctos). grizzly bear
grizzly bear (Ursos arctos). grizzly bear