A SPECIAL REPORT: WILDLIFE

BARE OF BEARS: A century ago, grizzly bears were as common in Orange County as wild pigs and wolves--which is to say they were very common. . . . The last of the great shaggy bears to roam these parts was trapped and killed in 1908 at Holy Jim Canyon in the Santa Ana Mountains. . . . Ironically, the grizzly still graces the state flag, even though the California species is extinct. “California is the only state whose emblem is a stuffed museum piece,” says local historian Jim Sleeper.