Tag Archives: grizzly

Early September on Knight Inlet’s Glendale River and two great photos taken from the viewing platform overlooking the entrance to the spawning channel. A lonely looking eight month old grizzly cub looking for its mother and two minutes later the mother comes to check that everything is OK. Not much else to say!

These grizzly siblings are in the natural river next to the finger viewing stand use by the lodge when on the fall grizzly bear tours in Knight Inlet BC. Siblings will often stay together for several years after leaving their mother and form a close bond. They are on the beach in the spring turning over rocks and fish the river in the fall. As shown they keep an eye on other bears in the area and use the fact that they are “two” to intimidate other bears of a similar age.

All three cubs are now awake and the tide is starting to rise. The mother grizzly bear starts up the beach to the mouth of the river and the flat land estuary, which provides for protection in the taller grass. The river estuary also has easier access to the surrounding forest with its tall trees if the cubs need to escape a large male bear. Yes grizzly cubs can climb trees while the large males cannot.

The photo of this large male grizzly bear was taken on October 10 that is close to the last day of Grizzly Bear Lodges viewing season.  It is interesting for the guides who have the pleasure of spending their summers with the bears to see how they change over the viewing season of late May through to mid October. British Columbia Ministry of Water, Land and Air Protection states: “In British Columbia, spring weights of adult Grizzly Bears
average around 220 kg (480 lb.) for males and 130 kg (290 lb.) for females. Average fall weights are about 30 to 40 percent more.” This bear would be larger than the average.

The end of July and if you were wearing a fur coat all the time you might want to spend sometime in the water. This morning on the lodges grizzly bear tour up Knight Inlet to the Glendale River estuary a mother grizzly and her cub spent the better part of an hour soaking in the water. The water in the cove is a mixture to fresh and salt water with enough fresh that the grizzlies will drink the surface water. It s also a good time for this six month old to become more accustomed to the water. The cubs will follow their mother into the water at a younger age but it is with reluctance.

A good photograph showing the claws on this sub-adult grizzly bear. Brown bear or grizzly bear claws are long and curved, ranging in color from yellow to brown. These claws are used to dig up roots and bulbs of plants, to excavate den sites as well as wrap around and hold salmon.

Guest to the viewing platforms on Knight Inlet’s Glendale River occasionally ask why is there a caged walk way up to the first platform. This photo is the answer showing that some of the juvenile grizzlies are curious. The grizzly bears have been known to use the wire of the cage as a back rub but none have been aggressive or tried to force the gate.

When we have our fall grizzly bear tours to the viewing stands on Knight Inlet’s salmon river it is to view the grizzlies catching and eating salmon. In this photo are two sub-adult sibling grizzly bears. At this age there is no longer the rivalry that occurred when they were with their mother. They are now able to catch their own food and do not share. As cubs it was the mother grizzly’s responsibility to ensure enough food was provided to fatten the family to survive the winter now the former cubs are on their own.