Distinctly Montana Magazine
Issue link: https://digital.distinctlymontana.com/i/797637
D I S T I N C T LY M O N TA N A • S P R I N G 2 0 1 7 14 Despite their foraging prowess and immense physical power, grizzly bears are acutely vulnerable. ey have one of the lowest reproductive rates of any terrestrial mammal. Even under the best of circumstances, a female grizzly is lucky to replace herself with another reproductive female during her lifetime. Partly because of this vulnerability, ecolo- gists consider grizzly bears to be an umbrella species. e health of grizzly bear populations engenders health for entire ecosystems. Native Americans have a different and perhaps more evocative way of making the same point. ey have an old story of a bear that goes into her den to dream the world into existence each winter. She dreams of antelope, and whitebark pine, and buffalo. She cre- ates entire ecosystems. When she emerges in the spring, trailed by young cubs, she is celebrated by all the creatures of the earth. Whatever the mythic connections, hibernation is nothing short of a miracle. Bears don't eat or drink or excrete waste for 100 to 180 days. If it were you or me, we would be long dead. But they crawl out of their dens in the spring basically healthy. ey don't lose much bone strength or muscle mass — 30% at most. eir kidneys, liver and heart don't fail. Of course, none of this is lost on medical researchers. ey have long suspected that bears could benefit people with heart disease, diabetes, osteoporosis, as well as traumatic injuries. If you could induce hibernation in someone with a stroke or undergoing cardiac arrest, you could buy doctors precious treatment time. You might even get people to distant planets. e bear, with its ability to seemingly die during winter and remerge in the spring with new life, has long symbolized trans- formation to ancient peoples. More practically and perhaps more intimately, native peoples looked to the grizzly as teacher, guide and kin. ese affinities are not surprising given that bears are so much BRET SWAIN All about grizzly bears in Yellowstone: www.distinctlymontana.com/grizzlyynp172 DISTINCTLY MONTANA | DIGITAL THE HEALTH OF GRIZZLY BEAR POPULATIONS ENGENDERS HEALTH FOR ENTIRE ECOSYSTEMS.