The Grizzly. The name alone evokes the strength, grandeur and ferocity of the North American Brown Bear—and sends a shiver down the spine of any sensible backpacker.

These Brown Bears were once abundant in North America, roaming the length of the continent from the Arctic Ocean through to central Mexico.

They have long been a symbol of the imposing wilderness of the American Rocky Mountains. As noted conservationist and founder of the New York Zoological Society, William T. Hornaday, said in 1913, "A Rocky Mountain without a Grizzly upon it, or at least a bear of some kind, is only half a mountain - commonplace and tame."

The animal has no natural enemies in the wild - except humans. Needing large amounts of space to forage and live, the Brown Bear's natural range extends up to 500 square miles (1,300 square kilometres). But expanding human settlements are encroaching on most of the bear's habitat and threatening their ability to survive. The decline of the Grizzly began with the arrival of European settlers in America. In less than a hundred years, numbers had dropped from 100,000 to 10,000.

As roads for commercial, residential and recreational use cut through the woodlands and plains, Grizzly populations move higher into the mountains. The bears' room to forage shrinks, forcing them into human spaces where they are considered a threat to livestock. They are hunted as trophies and poached for the purported medicinal benefit of their paws and gallbladders.

By 1975, human expansion had eliminated 99 per cent of the bear's natural habitat and the Grizzly was an endangered animal.

Conservation efforts try to reintroduce the Grizzly bear to the wild have proved successful in increasing their numbers, but these projects receive much criticism. Efforts started in the United States have met with resistance from the timber industry, state governments and livestock and ranging associations.

The most widespread of the bear species, the Brown Bear also roams the plains and mountains of Asia and Europe where their fate is also precarious. The Russian Federation's Brown Bear numbers near 100,000 animals in the wild, over 50 per cent of the bear populations worldwide. There are less than 100 animals in Italy and Greece. In Lebanon and Pakistan, the Brown Bear is believed to be regionally extinct.

As part of a global effort to protect the planet and the animals that inhabit it, the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) administers one of the world's largest conservation agreements, the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES ).

CITES is an agreement between governments to ensure that international trade of wild animals and plants does not threaten their survival. The CITES protects Brown Bears from illegal poaching for paws, trophies and gallbladders.

To date, 160 governments are bound to the Convention, which offers varying protection to more than 35,000 species of animals and plants. Not a single species protected by CITES has become extinct since the agreement began in force in 1975.

Animal Planet is collaborating with the United Nations to raise awareness around the world about biodiversity and the importance of protecting endangered species and their habitats.

LEARN MORE how the UN works with its partners around the world to save endangered species. Go to the links at the side of the page.

Photo credit: UN