Grizzly Watching

Grizzly Bears are magnificent and the biggest reason visitors choose our lodge!

Grizzly bears thrive here and the viewing opportunities are spectacular. We have operated our Grizzly Bear Lodge for decades and know the prime spots for bear watching. The ultimate grizzly bear photo opportunities.

Sexing a Grizzly Bear

A common question on a grizzly tour is ” Is that a male or female grizzly bear?” If it has cubs or if it is a really large bear not to hard to answer. If not you need a grizzly to do what this one is doing on the beach: females urinate backward and males forward. Other than that often your guess is as good as mine unless it is a bear we see frequently and are able to identify. As the grizzly viewing part of the tour comes to an end it is time to head back to the lodge. Still on the look out for wildlife on the shore, in the air or coming out of the water. Photos by 

 

Peter Palstring 3-6

Large Grizzly Bear in Knight Inlet

Some of the Knight Inlet grizzlies are bigger than others and this is an example of a healthy grizzly bear. The good sized hump, belly a little closer to the ground (a fall belly rather than a June belly) and a good set of claws all indicate a larger bear. Grizzlies in the estuary accept our watching as long as we remain outside their comfort zone they pay little attention to our “annoying” picture taking. Photos by 

 

Peter Palstring 2-6

Grizzly Bears in a Knight Inlet Estuary

The viewing stands in Knight Inlet’s Glendale River are used after August 25th. The grizzly are in the spawning channel feeding on salmon however somedays the viewing in the estuary is not bad, this appears to be one of those days. These are “lunchtime photos” our lunchtime and it appears the bears also. This mother with last season’s cubs is eating sedge grass and later trying for a free meal. Photos by

Peter Palstring 1-6

A large Grizzly Bear on a tour from lodge

The morning grizzly bear viewing tour up Knight Inlet is always more memorable after an encounter with a Big grizzly. Guests like to compare the size of the bears they view on their day trips however a truly big grizzly bear will tend to keep other bears away until they have had a good feed. So maybe size is not a good thing. Is this one eating grass it is possible even though this picture was taken in September bears are still eating grass and berries along with salmon. Salmon along the BC coast and notably Knight Inlet arrive at the rivers in mid August and remain until late October.Bruce comments “Although prior to our visit we had read about the thousands of salmon that congregated up river at the end of “The Salmon Run”, the wall-to-wall density of the fish was an amazing sight.”Photos by Bruce & Carole Cripps 8-11

 

Grizzly bears at play

The grizzly bears we view on Knight Inlet are different than the Alaskan grizzly, as they are well fed and or not competing for food. It is estimated that there are over forty bears on the Glendale and enough food that serious fights are rare. Unlike their northern cousins Knight Inlet grizzly bears do not have open wounds or scares from previous years fights. Because of this it  viewing  “play fighting” on a regular bases is quite common.“We felt so privileged to be able to experience the bears up close in their own environment and Grizzly Bear Lodge’s exclusive use of the viewing stands at Glendale Cove enabled everyone in our group to get fantastic sightings.”Photos by Bruce & Carole Cripps 7-11

Grizzly Bear Tours on Knight Inlet

Your grizzly bear tour day up Knight Inlet to the viewing stands in the fall allows you an opportunity to view a variety of bear activity and behaviour. In this case this grizzly has eaten the head first, as it is high in mineral content. It appears that a better view is necessary to look for more food, possibly competition is near, or if you stand up it shows how big one is and you keep your fishing area. In this case Bruce provides the answer in his comment.“We had been watching this female grizzly bear catching the salmon on the weir for quite some time then it suddenly stood up to its full height when it picked up the scent of an approaching male!” Photos by Bruce & Carole Cripps 6-11

Knight Inlet Grizzly Bear Watching

Knight Inlet runs approximately 100 kilometers into the BC mainland and is located off the East Coast of Vancouver Island about 100 kilometers north of Campbell River. There are seven rivers running into Knight Inlet but only the Glendale River has a “man made” spawning channel which means many more salmon than some of the other rivers and therefore grizzly bears come from the surrounding area to feed on the Glendale at the base of the viewing stands we use. Even though there are lots of salmon the first step is to catch the salmon. These grizzly bears seem to have that part of their job completed. Photos byBruce & Carole Cripps 5-11