Bumbling black bears were not always the apex predators of Saskatchewan's boreal forest. Grizzly bear (Ursus arctos, formerly known as 'ursa horribilis') were once an abundant species in the prairie provinces whose range extended from the Rocky Mountains to east of Winnipeg.

Although the plains population was reportedly extirpated in the 1880s, confirmed reports in east-central Saskatchewan and western Manitoba were relatively recent within the last century. The last reputable sightings occurred in the Pasquia Hills until 1950, and Porcupine Hills in 1960 (White, 1965).