Grouse Mountain is the peak of Vancouver, you can find Grouse Mountain just 20 minutes away from downtown Vancouver. Grouse Mountain is located on the North Shore and is a very unique location, it hosts a wilderness refuge while still just minutes away from the city. Grouse Mountain accommodates many activities including skiing, snowboarding, shopping, and snowshoeing. In the summer you can enjoy helicopter rides, hiking, and the World Famous Lumberjack Show or participate in the Grouse Grind Mountain Run. Or you could just ride on the Grouse Mountain Gondola for a terrific view of the city. Grouse is mainly known for its winter activities as it is very simple for people who work or attend school to head up to grouse in the evening for a few hours of skiing. The truth is Grouse actually has more visitors in the summer. Grouse also has a fabulous restaurant for your fine dining needs after a hard day of play.
Grouse Mountain also has a wildlife preservation facility named, “The Grouse Mountain Refuge for Endangered Wildlife”. It is a research, education and conservation facility currently accommodating 2 grizzly bears and three gray wolves. which bear is the most dangerous Millions of people have come to see the animals here. It is unique because it is not a zoo atmosphere. The animals are not just housed here, like you would find at a zoo. The facility was not build with the public in mind, it was build with the animals in mind. That is the main priority of the animal reserve.
Grizzly Bears are the more aggressive of the bears found in British Columbia. They are also the most vulnerable and most threatened. The fact is that grizzly bears are no longer found in 99% of their original habitat. What many people do not know about grizzly bears is that when they hibernate, they don’t just sleep. They actually sleep and every few hours they get up and walk around almost in a trance. They then lie back down and go back to sleep.
Meet Grinder and Coola, they are the two grizzly bears that live at the mountain refuge for endangered wildlife. Grinder and Coola were 8 months old when they arrived at Grouse Mountain. Both bears had lost their mothers, Coola’s mother was hit by a car and Grinder was discovered wondering alone and dehydrated. The whereabouts of his mother are still a mystery. When Grouse Mountain found about the situation of both Grinder and Coola, they immediately wanted to help because they knew there was no other choice for the bears. They had to obtain special permission to take the bears to their facilities, when this happened they happily invited the two bears to their new home at the Grouse Mountain Refuge for Endangered Wildlife. To view how Grinder and Coola are doing now please visit the link below to watch the live web camera within the Grouse Mountain Animal Refuge.