'Vanishing Grizzly Bear' Exhibit Opens Friday At Riverside Museum

RIVERSIDE, CA — An exhibit exploring the history and vanishing of California's grizzly bear population, featuring replicas and hands-on activities, will open Friday in Riverside.

The Museum of Riverside will present "California's Grizzlies" during an unveiling at 3:30 p.m. Friday in the Orange Terrace Community Center, 20010 Orange Terrace Parkway.

"Learn what makes a grizzly bear a grizzly bear, with sections explaining their diet, behavior and sheer size," according to a museum statement. "Stand toe-to-toe with a life-sized grizzly silhouette. Compare your paw -- err -- hand size to that of a grizzly and feel a replica of their fur. There will even be a gigantic replica skull on display!"

Wild grizzlies were last spotted 100 years ago in Northern California, but there hasn't been a documented sighting or evidence of their existence in the Golden State -- except on the flag -- since that time, according to the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County.

The Museum of Riverside's new exhibit will showcase the four-legged predators in a video that identifies how the animals roamed statewide in previous centuries, how early pioneers and settlers dealt with them, and how "local indigenous peoples lived with the bears as part of their environment for millennia."

There will be maps and illustrations, photographs and other imagery for visitors to enjoy, according to the museum.

Additional information is available at riversideca.gov/museum.