Grizzly Watching

Spring grizzly bear tours from Grizzly Bear Lodge require a boat ride up Knight Inlet to the area of Glendale River. At low tide the bears come to the shore to roll the rocks in search of protein or to feed on the sedge grass along the shore. As the tide comes in we are able to move up the river estuary into the river channel and observe the bears on the mud flats. In this case it is a mother grizzly with a third year cub still tagging along. Cubs generally stay with their mother for two years, although they will stay for three or four if the sow does not become pregnant in the fall of their second year.

Grizzly bear cubs are born in the den in January or February. Cubs weigh 500 grams (1 lb.) which is less one-tenth as much as human babies and are born blind. Once they have left the womb, the find their way to their mother’s teats where they feed on milk (and grow) until the spring. This photo from early June means the cub is likely less than five months old.  The male Grizzly bear’s hibernation ends in early to mid March, while females emerge in April or early May.  Although this cub may have been out of the den for little more than one month and is still nursing we observed it eating solid foods.

This photo is either a mother Grizzly with triplets or the middle bear (cub) has a very long and twisted body.  Triplets are not uncommon in Grizzly Bear Lodge’s viewing area but they are allot more work for the mother grizzly at this time of the year.  That extra mouth to feed and one more cub to keep track of in an area with many other bears means less time to fish. On this day there were other mothers and cubs in the fishing pool and it took time for this family to join the group and feel comfortable enough to start fishing.

As mentioned in an earlier posting grizzly bears are very playful—cubs treat their moms like a jungle gym. These twins did not want to leave their mother alone and this causes a problem. She had caught enough salmon and the cubs were content and wanted to play however she needs to continue fishing, as she requires many more salmon to fatten for hibernation. In this area with the large number of bears mothers cannot sent the cubs off on their own to rest or play they need to be constantly is her “protection area” for safety. So it becomes a fine balance between play for the cubs and food for mom.

This photo is of a large male grizzly bear sitting patiently waiting for a salmon to drift by to become lunch. The pool by the viewing stand is just below the salmon spawning channel and also the area that the dead salmon float too before entering the main river.  It is a good place to sit and save energy as the salmon come to the bears and all that is required is a quick grab for a meal.  The other side of the stands is the main river and a more active area of fishing.