of their offspring and may engage in aggressive behavior if danger is perceived. But grizzly bear always forewarn others about their intentions. They do this through a combination of body language, odor and sound.
Grizzly bear employ a variety of sounds to communicate. The meaning of bear sounds is very context specific. For instance, a female can communicate with her cubs through grunts, growls, moans or huffs, but these sounds can mean something very different in other situations. Grizzly bear sounds can be non-voiced like snorts, huffs, grunts or teeth clacking or they can be actual vocalizations. Non-voice sounds are employed far more often than vocalizations.
Non-voiced sounds are varied, but have overlapping meanings and purposes:
Grunt – A grunt is may be used as a signal of friendliness or command order from a female to her cubs.
Teeth clacking – When a grizzly bear feels threatened by an unwelcome presence (usually another grizzly bear or a human) it will clack its teeth to signal “you’re scaring me, wander off!”
Huffing – A grizzly may huff when agitated, fearful or aggressive. Huffing is also used as an expression of relief after a bear manages to escape from a scary situation – “Whew, that was scary.”
Popping jaws – This is also done when a grizzly engages in fearful, aggressive of agitated behavior. A female may also alert its cubs through a popping sound.
Snorting – Used by agitated, fearful or aggressive grizzlies.
Blowing air through nostrils – Same as above.
Vocalizations of grizzly bear usually convey emotion and sensation:
Screams – Used by cubs in distress.
Hums – Cubs also hum when content with the nursing of their mother.
Bawling – This is done by an adult in pain.
Moaning – Adult in fear.
Bellowing – Grizzlies rarely engage in bellowing. It is an obvious sign of aggression, and it’s usually done by males competing for females in the mating season. A female may also roar to defend her cubs from perceived threats.
For details on downloading the sound files, go to main Downloads page and follow information at bottom of page.
Title | Directory | Download |
---|---|---|
Bear Growls | bears | Download: Bear Growls |
bears | Download: grizzly bear sound | |
Black Bear Cub Distress | bears | Download: Black Bear Cub Distress |
bears | Download: mad polar bear | |
bears | Download: 55bearhuntandgrowl | |
bears | Download: Bear | |
Bear Grunts (2) | bears | Download: Bear Grunts (2) |
Grizzly Bear Growl | bears | Download: Grizzly Bear Growl |
Black Bear Sow & Cub | bears | Download: Black Bear Sow & Cub |
Grizzly Bear Growl 3 | bears | Download: Grizzly Bear Growl 3 |
Black Bear 2 | bears | Download: Black Bear 2 |
Bear Grunts | bears | Download: Bear Grunts |
bears | Download: polar bear sound | |
bears | Download: BearGrowl | |
bears | Download: 54beargrunts | |
Grizzly Bear Growl 2 | bears | Download: Grizzly Bear Growl 2 |
Bear Cub Grunts (2) | bears | Download: Bear Cub Grunts (2) |
bears | Download: 03babycubsgrunt | |
bears | Download: bear roar | |
Animal Sounds 08-Bear | bears | Download: animal sounds 08-bear |
bears | Download: blackbear | |
Bear Cub Grunts | bears | Download: Bear Cub Grunts |
Black Bear | bears | Download: Black Bear |
bears | Download: BearCubDistress | |
bears | Download: grizzlybear | |
bears | Download: black bear sound | |
bears | Download: bearsound | |
bears | Download: beargrowl | |
Black Bear Chomping & Snorting | bears | Download: Black Bear Chomping & Snorting |
bears | Download: polar | |
bears | Download: Bear1 | |
Bear Roaring | bears | Download: Bear Roaring |
bears | Download: bearcubdistress | |
Brown Bear | bears | Download: Brown Bear |
bears | Download: Bear |