2008 KATMAI BEAR TRIP REPORT: PART 4 (GEOGRAPHIC HARBOUR - INDIVIDUAL BEARS)

A sow with her older cubs attempts to teach them to fish, although they prefer to play and loot their mother's catch.

Geographic Habor’s fishing grounds were also home to a vivacious family unit, consisting of a sow and a pair of ~ 2 1/2 year olds. The mother was an efficacious “fisherbear,” while her cubs did little fishing. Instead, they spent much of their time grappling with each other like hairy Sumo wrestlers! When they were not playing, they were shadowing their mom and stealing any fish that she hauled in. Most of the time she would let them take off with her catch, although she did occasionally attempt to wolf down some of her piscine prey before she was looted by her greedy brood. On one occasion she lost her patience and cuffed one of her overzealous offspring before giving in and letting go of her fish (see video below). Occasionally, the two hooligans attempted to include mom in their frolicsome behavior. She complied a couple of times, jawing at her young assailants.

A trio of grizzlies: a sow with her two offspring (these to youngsters are probably 32 months old). Note how she does all of the fishing, while they benefit from the fruits of her labor! Compare these two laggards with the adolescent fishing machine below.

In contrast to these impish, 2.5-year olds, we observed an amazing young bear that was a fishing machine! This bruin was a ~ 1.5 year old (usually referred to as a yearling) with a light colored (nearly blonde) mother. The pair initially made their presence known when the mother, with the cub trailing behind, were observed chasing another bear. They gave up their half-hearted chase and began to slowly meander toward the prime fishing area. Once they arrived at the river bank, it was not long before the yearling was chasing and even catching salmon! (There were few other bears in the area at the time.) The mother bear seemed to lag behind the young bear, keeping close enough to protect its progeny if the need arised, but yet far enough away to allow it to learn some life skills. The young bear was such an enthusiastic piscator that at one point it had a fish in its mouth, while it attempted to capture a second salmonid (see the video below)!

The fishing exploits of an ~ 1.5-year old (yearling) bear - this young bruin was a very effective fisherman, as you will see in the video above.

© Scott W. Michael

2008 KATMAI TRIP REPORT: PART 2 (GEOGRAPHIC HARBOUR)

Geographic Harbour (Amalik Bay) is picturesque, sheltered and infested with brown bears!

On previous trips to Katmai, most of our bear-viewing had taken place at Hallo and Kukak Bays. On our 2008 trip, we didn’t get to either of these sites as bear numbers were sparse at the time. Instead, we spent much of our adventure in Geographic Harbour, a picturesque site at the head of Amalik Bay. Like the rest of Katmai, the scenery is magnificent and bears are ubiquitous - there are usually at least two or three bears fishing in the main stream that flows into the bay. The harbour is surrounded by a high profile landscape that provides natural protection from the inclement weather that rushes across the Gulf of Alaska. It provides an ideal anchorage and a calm landing “strip” for float planes.

The downside of Geographic, is that on a clear day you are likely to share the prime bear-viewing spots with a number of “day-trippers” (these bear-viewers arrive by floatplane and remain in Geographic for two to four hours before being whisked back to Homer or Kodiak). During our stay, there were times where we were in close proximity to at least 30 other bear-viewers. While it certainly takes away some of the “wilderness feel” of the experience, this “bear paparazzi” did not seem to bother the bears that frequent Geographic Harbour (mind you, there may be other bears that would come and fish here but do not while the viewers are present). Also, in the early mornings and from mid-afternoon on, we were the only people among the bears.

A rotund sow (possibly a barren female - see notes in text below) exhibiting the typical Geographic Harbour dark pelage.

Interestingly enough, the bears that frequent Geographic Harbour tend to be darker in color than their Hallo Bay “cousins.” While you see some darker bears in Hallo, almost all the bears at Geographic are chocolate brown. While I am sure it varies from year to year, there were fewer bears at any one time on the Geographic stream than we had seen in early to mid-August at Hallo (we saw as many as 23 bears at once during one of our previous Hallo Bay visits, while the most Ursus arctos in view at any one time in Geographic was less than 10). This may be due to the fact that the prime fishing spots (at least those in view of the bear-viewing areas) in Geographic are not as abundant so there is less space for bears to fish comfortably around one another (fishing spots are more abundant when the tide is out).

In Geographic, there is high grass meadow (Calamagrostis spp.) that grows right up to the edge of some portions of the river. It was not uncommon to see subordinate bears, standing on their back legs, peering above the grass to make sure it was safe to take up a position along the water way. At low tide we would take-up a station on the intertidal flats, where bears fished in the dendritic tributaries that branched out from the main river channel. There is also a viewing pad, consisting of a flat, slightly raised bank situated along the edge of the stream that can be used at both low and high tide. It was not uncommon for bears working the stream edge to come within 15 to 20 feet of this viewing area.

While the area was never overrun with bears, there was often good fishing action in Geographic, especially at and around low tide. We saw numerous salmon pulled from the water by subadults, and both adult boars and sows (although the latter were slightly more abundant in the area). There were some fat, beautiful sows around the river, several of which were very effective at catching fish. One of these females was huge! Brad Josephs, brown bear expert, speculated that this was possibly a barren female, as they have a propensity to become very rotund.

2008 KATMAI BEAR TRIP REPORT: PART 1

In late August of 2008, Janine and I were joined by five other photographers/naturalists on a trip to Katmai National Park. This included Larry Jackson, Debbie Titus, David Salmanowitz, and Larry and Nancy Peterson*. I had been to Katmai in 2006 and 2007 and was excited to get back, as well as share this very special place with great friends. Based on their reactions, I think they too have caught the bear bug - at least three of the five have expressed an interest to go back next year!

We were the guests of bear-viewing guru John Rogers (Katmai Coastal Bear Tours). He runs a number of boats along the Katmai coast and he, and his guides, know the area and the bears like no one else. I had been with John on my two previous trips and once again, John and company came through with a truly amazing wildlife experience!

Katmai Notes

In my past two visits to Katmai, I did my bear-viewing in early to mid-August. This year, we arrived in the land of the great bear a little later in the season (from August 22 until August 31st). We hoped to see more corpulent bears (as a result of a few more weeks at the “salmon buffet,” which is available from July into September) as well as some different behaviors. It was highly likely there would be more fishing activity as at least three and possibly four species of salmon (chum, pink, sockeye, and possibly silver) could be “running” at that time. I also wanted to document bears feeding on moribund and/or dying salmon, as this food source is an important part of the diet of hyperphagic bears.

It turned out the fish were present in large numbers. In fact, in certain parts of the Alaskan Peninsula (e.g., Bristol Bay), there were reports of huge fish runs. I certainly observed bears catching more fish during this trip than I had seen on previous visits (in the past two years I had seen relatively small runs when I visited). We observed pink (Oncorhynchus gorbuscha), chum (O. keta) and sock-eye salmon (O. nerka) being plucked from Katmai’s rivulets. While there were definitely more fish, we saw fewer bears than we had on our past trips. Some locals speculated that the reduction in fishing bear numbers was a function of an abundant berry crop – many of the bears were in the ”bush” gorging on salmon berries. Even though Ursus arctos numbers were down, there were still more than enough bears to keep us in a constant state of awe.

First Stop Kodiak

We began our trip in Kodiak – the jumping off site to Katmai (i.e., you take a float plane from Kodiak to the Katmai coast to meet the “bear boat”). We arrived at Kodiak about five days before our Katmai trip was to commence. Katmai Coastal Bear Tours recommends that you show-up in Kodiak at least a couple days before your scheduled departure, just in case it is necessary to make an early trip to Katmai. If inclement weather is forecast for the day you are scheduled to travel to Katmai, John may have you fly out to the boat one or even two days earlier in an attempt to ensure you get to spend the time you paid for with the bears.

Spending some time on Kodiak is a treat in and of itself! It is one of the most beautiful places I have ever seen, especially when viewed from the air. There are valleys, mountains, rocky coastlines replete with tide pools, clear streams and lakes and lush vegetation (the latter is a function of the high precipitation levels [average annual rainfall of 173 cm, average snowfall 198 cm]). And, of course, it also has a large population of brown bears (a.k.a. Kodiak bears). How many Comfort Inns in the world have a sign posted on the door suggesting that guests be very careful while moving about the parking lot after dark as a curious bear has been sighted lurking around the hotel! During our stay, there were a couple reports of Kodiak bear being sighted fishing in local streams. While we did not see any bears on Kodiak, we did visit a beached humpback whale carcass in hopes of seeing some scavenging brown bears. We also did lots of hiking, learned about spatterdock (Nuphar luteu) (thanks to Larry, our amateur botanist), enjoyed some amazing scenery and found some great intertidal, invertebrate life.

Fortunately, the weather was good while we were on the island (although we arrived on a blustery, rainy night) and we were able to get off to Katmai on schedule. In the next post, we will take a look at our first bear-viewing stop, Geographic Harbour.

URSIDOPHILES 2008

* Larry and David are great dive buddies and accomplished photographers - Janine and I have spent many hours with them in the Western Pacific, both above and below the water! This was the first time we had traveled with Debbie - she was a delight to have on the trip and an accomplished photographer in her own right. Larry and Nancy are good friends from Lincoln, Nebraska (where we reside) that are passionate about wildlife. We want to thank these five great travel companions for sharing this wonderful ursid-rich experience with us!

© Scott W. Michael

A BEAR SHANGRI-LA

Hallo Bay, Katmai National Park.

Scott W. Michael and Janine Cairns-Michael

The great bear quest was conceived on a warm September night in our Nebraska home. A week before, my wife, Janine, and I had been roaming through rain forest on the Olympic Peninsula, Washington. While hiking the mountain trails, I was intrigued with the possibility that we may see black bears (much to my dismay and Janine’s relief, we did not see one). But I had caught the “bear bug.” After our return from this lush national park, I went to the local library and checked out every book they had on the Ursidae (the scientific designation for the family that contains all eight known bear species). One of the books I found was particularly mesmerizing – it was on the brown (grizzly) bears of Katmai National Park, Alaska. I was unfamiliar with this national treasure and the idea of observing these mighty creatures on their turf was very intriguing. Before long, I made the following proclamation to my beloved – “We are going on a trip to Alaska to walk among the grizzly bears.” Janine responded in her now-Americanized Kiwi accent, “Yes Dear, that would be nice.” She was not concerned about my proposal, assuming that like some of my obsessions before it, that it too would pass after a few weeks.

Ten months later, Janine and I were on a small skiff that was ferrying us (and a handful of other bear fanatics) from a converted crab boat, dubbed the “MV Kittiwake,” to the sandy shore that fringes portions of Katmai National Park. While I was sure that this was going to be a unique and exciting adventure, I had no idea how profoundly the next six days would impact my life.

A female brown bear in repose watches us as we set-up our photo equipment.

We arrived in Hallo Bay that afternoon on a Cessna floatplane. It was a beautiful, sunny afternoon and a magnificent flight from Kodiak. Rugged mountains, islets and sheltered bays rolled out beneath us as we made our way to the Shelikof Strait. By the time we reached the Strait, we could see the magnificent Aleutian Range and Katmai National Park. Our gracious pilot, Dean Andrews, made a high pass over the sedge flats where we were able to see numerous brown bears sleeping and grazing in the green expanse! After our smooth landing in Hallo Bay, we were immediately whisked by skiff to the “Kittiwake” to meet the rest of the bear-viewing party and prepare for our first bruin encounter. As soon as we were able to get our camera gear ready and our field gear on, we were on our way to the intertidal flats. At this point, my skin was literally tingling!

Not only were we “buzzing” at the possibility of seeing the second largest land carnivore, the setting that surrounded us was truly awe-inspiring. Even Janine (a citizen of New Zealand, one of the most “scenically-gifted” places on earth), was overwhelmed by the vista that spread out before us as we motored to the estuarine sand flat. At this point, it was evident to both of us that this was going to be a very special trip. We reached the drift-wood littered beach and we were immediately aware that the beasts we had come to admire were nearby – there were bear paw prints, of varying size, impressed into the sand.

On our way to the beach, Brad Josephs (bear expert and guide) gave us a briefing on how we should behave in order to both ensure our safety and to have the least amount of impact on the bears. We bunched-up and moved along the shoreline until we reached a tributary that held great promise. Before us, there were two light colored sows (i.e., female) that were standing in the middle of the water way. They were very vigilant, scanning the water’s surface for any turbulence that may indicate the presence of a piscine prize.

An older female dubbed Nana - although she is small, few bears mess with Nana.

We set-up our camera equipment near the water’s edge, leaving enough room for any bear following the meandering stream contour to safely pass in front of us. Within minutes, camera motor drives were whirring as the two bears began running up and down the stream, being provoked into action by ripples generated by a salmonid back or tail.

This was the beginning of the salmon run, when these anadromous “super-fish” smell their way back to their place of “birth” and re-enact the process of procreation that has occurred for millions of years. Soon after releasing their sexual products, the adult fish die, leaving a virtual “scavengers buffet” that is utilized by bears, eagles, gulls, foxes and wolves. During our six day stay, chum salmon (Oncorhynchus keta) were in the process of re-acclimating to a riverine environment. While the salmon were present, they were by no means as easy to come by or catch as they would be later in the season. We were amazed at how much energy the bruins used loping to and fro as they attempted to find and capture the illusive fish.

One thing that seemed obvious from the get-go was that these bears were oblivious to our presence. They continued to move up and down the river and on a couple of occasions plodded along the bank very near to our group. Janine, who prior to arrival in Alaska, had expressed some consternation about how she would respond when she encountered Ursus arctos at close quarters, was not overcome by panic, but overwhelmed by a wave of veneration.

A grizzly bear stampede!

Both bears tired of pursuing their illusive quarry and eventually left the area, so Brad decided we would move further down the stream to see what we could see. We crossed a portion of the sedge meadow, where we saw moose and wolf sign, as well as two medium-sized female “brownies’ (slang for brown bear) grazing on the plenteous sedge, but even more amazing was the sight that greeted us upon rounding the bend. There were eight more brown bears of varying shapes and sizes. Several of the bruins were bounding through the water, while others were sitting or in repose on the bank, seemingly content to observe the frenetic behavior of their kin. Suddenly, five of the beasts were up and running our direction - it was a bruin stampede! The sleuth of bears, apparently in response to a noise or movement observed in the water adjacent to our group, ran past us, coming with 30 feet of our astonished gang. Once again, it was obvious that they could care less about us - they were only interested in the possibility of securing a salmonid meal.

As the bears past, a couple stopped and adopted a bipedal stance in order to better spy any stirring at the water’s surface. A large female past by with a yearly youngster in tow. She was the only bear that may have been agitated by our presence because as she past she engaged in a threatening vocalization known as jaw-popping (a unique utterance that is made by knocking the teeth together). It was impossible to tell if our group elicited this behavior or if it was the activity of the other bears around her. (We came to find out she was a rather nervous mother that would often jaw-pop if other bruins moved past.) The female and her offspring eventually moved down the bank a short distance and plopped down with their backs towards us. We watched these bears for some time before they disbanded and moved off. It was time to make our way back to the boat.

Snaggle-tooth looks more like a big shaggy cow, as he grazes on sedge, than a predatory bruin.

We took a different course back to the “Kittiwake,” opting to transverse the luxuriant sedge meadow. While in route, Brad spotted one of his old buddies – a huge male that had been appropriately dubbed “Snaggle-tooth.” This battle-scarred old warrior was once one of the dominant males in this area. His jaw has been broken during "mouth-to-mouth" combat and as a result his right canine tooth protruded from his mandible. As we approached, Brad informed us that he was a very “human-habituated” bear and even though he was approaching 1,000 pounds and had been at the top of the pecking order during his prime, “Snaggle-tooth” had never caused problems with any of Brad’s bear-viewers. We sat and watched this gentle-giant as he jerked mouthfuls of sedge from the earth and masticated it like a big, shaggy cow. What an impressive beast he was! Although not universally known to the general public, brown bears feed heavily on plant matter. Along the southwestern Alaskan coast, sedge grass, as well as a miscellany of other botanical species, make up an important food item in the diet of U. arctos.

A little further along the edge of the sedge meadow we encountered another massive old boar named “Flop-ear.” Steve Stringham, a bear expert that had come to greet and briefly joined our group, suggested that he was probably over 25 years of age and that he once instilled trepidation into the other male bruins that fished this bay. His immense frame was not as well-muscled as the younger males that now ruled the Hallo region. He was scarred and even sported a relatively fresh wound on his left flank. Later during our stay, we were happy to see both “Flop-ear” and “Snaggle-tooth” catch a number of fish. Hopefully, they were able to put on enough fat to see them through another winter dormancy.

Flop-ear was once a dominant boar in the region, but now he no longer elicits trepidation in the younger males that are in their prime.

John Rogers, the skipper and owner of Katmai Coastal Bear Tours, met us with the skiff to ferry us back to the "Kittiwake." I had spoken with John a number of times during the 10 months prior to this day and he assured me that I would be blown away by the trip. I could tell he was waiting for a response when we returned to the skiff, but we were gob-smacked! Janine and I were overwhelmed with what we had experienced in our first several hours of being bear voyeurs and did not know how to express our amazement in words. (After several minutes looking at him and shaking my head in disbelief, I simply grabbed his hand and began uttering “Wow” over and over.)

These were our first hours exploring Hallo Bay. There were to be many more amazing days of bear-viewing in Hallo, as well as Kukak, Kuliak and Kaflia Bays. Throughout our stay, I was impressed with Brad Josephs and his wildlife-viewing philosophy. He went to extreme lengths to ensure that our presence did not deleteriously impact the bruins. As a couple interested in the welfare of the animals we are taking photos of, we try to consider the impact our behavior has on our photographic subjects. With Brad and Katmai Coastal Bear Tours, I never felt as though I was “crossing-the-line” when it came to the well-being of the bears.

As I mentioned above, this trip really did change our lives. Upon returning home, I began gathering up as much literature on bear biology as I could find and I am currently trying to figure out a way that I can spend more time in the field photographing and studying these amazing mammals. Janine no longer suffers from “bear-phobia.” Her fear of bears has been replaced with a healthy respect and she is looking forward to upcoming bruin encounters in Alaska, Canada and the lower 48 states. But more than anything, we have both been overwhelmed by the magnificence that is Ursus arctos. We now feel that we must be advocates for the bear and teach others just how important and special these creatures are and how wanting the North American wilderness would be without them.

For more on bear-viewing in Katmai go to www.katmaibears.com!

©2008 Scott W. Michael

MALEVOLENT MOTHERS AND BRUIN BABYSITTING: PART 2

The brown bear sow (Ms. Hook) that trusted us to babysit her two spring cubs for approximately 20 minutes. Photo by Scott W. Michael

In the last bear post (click here to read), we looked at how mother bears will utilize the presence of human groups to increase their level of security while nursing their young – a indicator of their ability to learn and their behavioral plasticity. Last year (2007) in Katmai, our group was able to witness an even more amazing phenomenon, related to sows and dependent cubs. This behavior has been dubbed as “cub-caching.” During this behavior, instead of moving close to human groups to nurse, the sow will approach a hominid cluster with her cubs, and then leave her offspring with the humans while she goes off to fish among the other bears. That’s right, they employ our species to babysit their youngsters! Quite a contrast to the mother bear described in my last posting that attacked the two hikers in Glacier National Park, eh (click here)? Once again, the root cause is the fact that some large boars have an aversion to us and at least some sows have learned to take advantage of it. By leaving their young cubs near a group of people, the sows can go fish without putting their offspring at risk of being attacked by other bears.

During my stay at Katmai National Park, our group experienced cub caching on three separate occasions. Our first experience with this behavior went something like this: mother bear (dubbed Ms. Hook) came sauntering along a tributary that snaked from the river mouth to the sea, with two small shapes trotting along some distance behind her. The two cubs were lagging behind, occasionally stopping to sniff the sand and to pick-up bits of debris (e.g., shells) in their mouths. When the sow was adjacent to our little clump of humanity (about 4 m away) she stopped and waited for her kinder to catch-up. When they did, she abruptly vocalized and the two cubs plopped down on the wet sand. I assume the vocalization was their cue that we were in charge for while. Mother bear then proceeded to head for the prime fishing area, 60 to 80 yards further along and into the estuary, and join the other bears that were already chasing and jumping on their illusive quarry. So there we were, 3 to 4 m from two winsome spring cubs that were not at all concerned about the gawking band of two-legged, one-eyed anthropoids (that one- eye was the lenses protruding from the camera that are faces were pressed up against)! The cubs simply sat on their haunches and watched their mother leave, they turned to check us out, one laid back in repose, they checked out debris in the sand – in short, they were ideal little charges!

The spring cubs occasionally look back to observe us, but for the most part seemed completely comfortable with being "cached" with Homo sapiens. All photos by Scott W. Michael.

After five minutes or so, they moved along in front of us (much to the delight of the photographers as they had originally parked themselves between us and the sun) and sat down side-by-side with their backs facing us. They remained there until a big pulse of salmon entered the estuary mouth and all hell broke loose with the adult bears chasing fish in various directions. The sudden commotion startled the little bears, which ran past us and took up a position behind our group. They remained there for a little while longer until mom came back to pick them up.

I could not believe what I had just witnessed - I had read about it, but to actually see it happen was mind altering! To have this powerful, often misunderstood mother, entrust us with her seven month old offspring while she went off to catch her supper! The photos above were all shot during our first baby-sitting (cub-caching) encounter. That 20 minute period was worth the cost of the entire trip and was no doubt my most memorable wildlife encounter!

Copyright (2008) Scott W. Michael

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HELGA HANGS WITH HUMANS

The video above, shows just how smart a young grizzly can be! What it documents is a three-year old bear placing our group of photographers between itself and a large male (Snaggletooth – I will introduce him to you in detail in a future post). The young bear is Helga, one of the “H-twins” (her sister is Hannah - both were named by longtime bear enthusiast, wildlife photographer and Katmai visitor, Carol Bailey). While it may seem counter-intuitive, large males are often more reluctant to approach human groups than are younger bears or adult females. (It turns out that Snaggletooth is a very human-habituated bear and so he really does not mind people.) Females and subadults of both sexes may hang out near groups of observers because they have learned that the potentially dangerous males are less likely to bother them there. In this case, Helga is using our group as a shield, just in case the big bad boar decides to harass or even attempt to eat her! She eventually moves off behind us and away from Snaggletooth. In my next bear post, we will look at cub caching, a truly amazing phenomenon that I have been able to witness at Katmai.

Big teeth, long claws, massive muscles, amazing sensory modalities - the grizzly has many impressive corporeal attributes. But not only does the great bear have an impressive set of physical tools, it is also one of the most intelligent animals on the planet. Naturalist, John M. Hornaday (1930) says the following about the grizzly:

“The bear’s ingenuity, his curiosity, and his enjoyment of recreation are closely connected. They are the signs of his intelligence. The bear shows his sagacity in many ways; he is not an idler, and is always busy learning something. Even though he does not venture far from his known domain and is cautious in his actions, he is a mental adventurer, constantly assimilating new impressions and ideas. He is not a gregarious animal, and when he meets a new situation, he has to reason it out for himself. Any unusual occurrence arouses his curiosity, and he usually investigates in an intelligent manner. The grizzly has a good sense of humor, of a mischievous type.”

In regard to the mind of the grizzly, Hornaday, director of the New York Zoological Park wrote of the ursids:

“Considered as a group, the bears of the world are supremely interesting animals. In fact, no group surpasses them save the Order Primates, and it requires the enrollment of all the apes, baboons and monkey’s to accomplish this. From sunrise to sunset a bear is an animal of original thought and vigorous enterprise.”

Studies conducted on the "academic" abilities of bears have shown that they can learn as fast as the great apes. They have amazing spatial memory. Anyone that has lived in bear country knows how good their memory is when it comes to relocating a food source. One encounter with an a trash can that contains edible-refuse will almost certainly bring the bear back to that very spot (sometimes again, again and again). Gunter et al (2004) said in their study on problem bears “Once a bear successfully obtains food reward at a particular location, the site is usually periodically re-checked for more food.” Problem bears that are relocated, typically find their way back to the location where easily accessed morsels were originally found. These individuals are often referred to as “boomerang bears” and they have been known to revisit an inappropriate food source even after having been moved over 100 miles from it!

Copyright (2008) Scott W. Michael

SO HOW DANGEROUS IS THE GRIZZLY?

Surely the people in repose behind this large, scarred male grizzly should be running for their lives? Stop scratching your head buddy, you're about to get eaten by a grizzly! Or is he? Photo by Scott Michael.

In the last few bear posts I have described why the grizzly has had a harder time living side-by-side with Homo sapiens than its cousin U. americanus. We discussed how the grizzly evolved in a rough neighborhood and that by being bellicose, this bear ensured its survival. So, grizzlies are potentially more dangerous than black bears because of the behavioral baggage they have carried with them through the years - but really, how dangerous are grizzly bears to our species?

While the grizzly bear is potentially more dangerous than its kin, the actual likelihood that you will become the victim of this often misunderstood beast, even if you spend lots of time in grizzly country, is very slim. But how can that be? Many non-bear devotees (which included me at one time) believe your chances of surviving a wild grizzly encounter (that is, running into a grizzly on its turf) is almost nil and if you do live through the experience you will bear the emotional and physical scars for life. Much of this is due to the contemporary media. How many times have you seen a show on one of the many nature-oriented TV stations that concentrate on those rare bad encounters between bear and human. (Does Grizzly Man ring a bell?) The old adage “if it bleeds, it leads” certainly has been applied to exploit the grizzly.

This type of sensationalist reporting is not new. You only have to look at the stories of killer bears that permeated the literature of the late-19th and early 20th-centuries. But not all the naturalists and outdoorsman of the time were bellowing this same warning. Some went against the flow. For example, consider the writings of zoologist Dr. William T. Hornaday. In 1927, he wrote the following about the grizzly’s character.

“I have made many observations on the temper of the grizzly bear, and am convinced that naturally the disposition of this reportedly savage beast is rather peaceful and good-natured. At the same time, however, no animal is more prompt to resent an affront or injury, or punish and offender. The grizzly temper is defensive, not aggressive; and unless the animal is cornered, or thinks he is cornered, he always flees from man.”

Much of the grizzly’s bad reputation was inspired by the tales disseminated by Indian and European hunters. They found that the mighty bear was indeed ferocious when it had been hit with a slug, peppered with buckshot or pierced by an arrow. But can you blame the animal for defending its life against an aggressor? Such was also the case with Lewis and Clark’s expedition. The majority of their bad encounters with grizzlies were bears that had been maimed by their relatively light caliber weapons.

John M. Holzworth speaks to the truth and legend behind the grizzly’s ferocity. He was not a neophyte when it came to the behavior of the great bear. He had spent lots of time with brown bears between approximately 1915 and 1930. He reports having seen over 250 individual grizzlies in the wild (both in Alaska and the lower 48 states) and he photographed many of these at close range. He concluded the following about the grizzly’s undeserved reputation in his book The Wild Grizzlies of Alaska:

“The big bears… are fighting machines of the first order… Together with his character as a fighter was soon added his reputation for ferociousness and proneness to attack beast and man. But is his desire to fight in self-defense is not justifiable? It is a far different thing from going out to attack people who are not molesting him. The big bear’s criminal offense, apparently, is his effectiveness in defending himself.”

Thus, these pioneers of bear observation conclude that while grizzlies will fight more ferociously than any other animal if they or their offspring are in danger, they are more likely to avoid people than attack them. More on grizzly aggression in my next bear post!

Copyright (2008) Scott W. Michael

GRIZZLY AGGRESSIVENESS: HONED BY EVOLUTION

The potential aggressiveness of the female grizzly helps ensure the survival of her young. A female with older offspring is shown here. Photo by Janine Cairns-Michael.

So why is the grizzly a more bellicose bear? It is instructive to look back in time and examine the “neighborhood” that the grizzly bear species “grew-up” in. The fossil record indicates that the first grizzlies were found in North America towards the end of the Pleistocene epoch (geologists tell us this epoch ended about 11,550 years ago, spanned about 1.8 million years and covered the earth’s most recent period of repeated glaciations). The receding glaciers left luxuriant grasslands in their wake that were home to numerous herbivores, like bison, mammoth and yak. Where there are herbivores, there will also be great predators to cull the herds. Such was the case in the Pleistocene and the grizzly was one of these predators. But this was a rougher neighborhood than the modern day grizzly inhabits. There were massive saber-toothed cats, dire wolves and a behemoth of a bear known as the giant short-faced bear (Arctodus simus) – this was a massive creature that is proposed to reach a weight of 2,000 pounds.

While the grizzly foraged in the open grasslands, usually adjacent to forested areas, the black bear was (and still is) a resident of the woodlands - a habitat that is critical for the survival of their young. A black bear cub can climb trees days after leaving the maternal den. By scurrying up trees, neonates are able to elude most predators. In many cases, the mother black bear will climb up the tree behind her young or may remain at the base of the tree to dissuade a potential threat from pursuing her offspring any further. Because of their arboreal abilities, momma black bears rarely have to fight off the enemies of their cubs.

Now consider the grizzly. This species is not an adept climber. Even if they were, spending time in the open grassland habitats preclude the likelihood they are going to be able to out climb an adversary. Therefore, in order for the grizzly to survive and protect its vulnerable young in this more exposed Pleistocene ecosystem, it was the female’s aggressiveness that determined whether her offspring survived or not. Those mother grizzlies that turned into a raging ball of fury when their young were threatened passed more of their genes (including their aggressive inclinations) into the next generation. If she had a disposition more like that of a black bear sow, her young would not last long on this hostile, unforgiving community.

Natural selection has apparently honed the female grizzly into a more volatile creature – unfortunately, when it comes to getting along with H. sapiens their defensiveness is a big strike against them. While a black bear sow with young of the year is more likely to run for cover when encountering a human hiker, a mother grizzly is more predisposed to initiate a preemptive strike (that is, take out the potential threat before that threat can harm her cubs).

Male grizzlies can also be aggressive toward people, but usually only when they are taken by surprise. If a grizzly (boar or sow) knows your coming, more often than not, they will vacate the area in order to avoid contact with their most formidable rival - man. But if the boar is suddenly face-to-face with a human, it may do as the female with cubs does; that is, take out the menace to prevent harm to itself. That said, in most cases, a surprised bear will simply bluff charge, hoping that intimidation will be enough to prevent the threat from attacking or run away. On rare occasions, usually when the person behaves inappropriately, the bear may make contact.

Many grizzly attacks can also be attributed to defense of a food source. The script for these episodes usually goes as follows: unknowing human stumbles onto a food cache (usually the carcass of a large animal), grizzly that is resting nearby guarding its prize, or feeding on it, attempts to drive off potential competitor (said human). Bear bites and slaps unsuspecting interloper around a few times and returns to its post. A subsequent assault may occur if the human does not behave appropriately (e.g., gets up attempts to flee, fights with the bear). In most cases, the curl up and “kiss your ass goodbye maneuver” (that is, play dead) is the most appropriate defensive strategy in these situations.

It was one of a family of grizzlies that were defending their food that mauled a jogger, 54-year old Dennis VanDenbos, around Jackson Hole last summer (2007). Janine and I encountered this ursid family unit (a sow with three larger offspring) in the willows along the road early one morning last spring. The family had been hanging around in this area, to the delight of many tourists, for a long time and had not been implicated in any aggression towards human observers. But this morning, the 350-pound sow, along with her cubs, were feeding on an elk carcass, when the unsuspecting Mr. VanDenbos stumbled across the bruin bunch and their freshly-killed ungulate prize. When confronted by the bears, VanDenbos yelled at the bears and when that didn’t work, he hit the ground and played dead. One of the bears ran forward and bit and clawed the man (for more on this story click here).

It may be surprising to some readers that grizzly attacks rarely have a predatory component. Of all the serious human-grizzly conflicts that have occurred in Alaska, only 1 % of these attacks ended in the victim being fed upon. In fact, the majority of attacks (about 88 %) were of short duration, lasting no longer than 60 seconds. The typical encounter is typically fast and furious.

While black bear attacks may be less frequent than those inflicted by grizzlies, bear biologist Dr. Stephen Herero has documented U. americanus assaults are often motivated by predation. If the black bear presses home an attack, it is more likely an attempt to eat you than defend progeny or a resource. In fact, Dr. Herero recommends fighting, tooth and nail, against a marauding black bear, not playing possum. In the last couple years, there were two cases of black bears preying on humans: one case in Utah (click here for more) when a black bear killed a 11-year old boy (2007), and one case in Tennessee, where this species killed a 6-year old (2006) (click here for more).

So how dangerous are bears, especially grizzlies? We will investigate this in the next ursid post.

Copyright (2008) Scott W. Michael

TWO BEARS - A DIFFERENCE IN DISPOSITION

A large boar in its prime, like this one along the Katmai coast, is an impressive animal. Photo by Scott Michael.

Another reason for the disparity between the number of black and grizzly bears in North America has to do with their habitat preferences and behavior, which is a function of their long evolutionary history. For centuries, frontiersmen that roamed the wilderness recognized that the grizzly is a much more dangerous beast than the black bear. In 1703 Baron Lahontan, in his book Memoir of A Fur Trader in Canada, made the observation “The reddish bears are mischievous creatures, for they fall fiercely upon the huntsmen, whereas the black one fly away.” In the journals of Lewis and Clark the grizzly is referred to as “a creature of extraordinary ferocity” and they noted that it would rather attack man than avoid him (ironically, the more detailed observations they include in their journals do not support this claim).

Theodore Roosevelt listed the Alaskan brown bear and then the grizzly as the most dangerous wild animals to man (note: these are one in the same species). He stated, “The king of the game beasts of temperate North America, because the most dangerous to hunters, is the grizzly bear.” In contrast, the back bear has never had such a dubious reputation. In his book Grizzly Country, Andy Russell says the following about the two species, “To compare him [the grizzly] with his lesser cousin, the black bear, is like standing a case of dynamite besides a sack of goose feathers.”

This is not to say that black bears do not attack people, but they do so much less frequently than grizzlies (In fact, in 2007 several people were killed by black bears in the Lower 48 States). Consider Dr. Stephen Herrero’s study that looked at injuries inflicted on humans by bears between 1960 and 1998 in Alberta, Canada. Of 42 serious or fatal attacks on humans in this region, 69 % were caused by grizzlies, while only 31 % were inflicted by the black bear. Then take into account that the latter is 38 times more common than U. arctos - it is very clear that the grizzly is by far the more dangerous of the two species (Herrero estimated that at this time, there were about 1,000 U. arctos in Alberta province and from 38,000 to 39,000 U. americanus). We will discuss the disposition of the grizzly in much more detail in future blogs (you might be surprised at some of my conclusions on just how dangerous grizzly bears are to humans!).

Copyright (2008) Scott W. Michael