The famous fat bears of Alaska's Katmai National Park are still slumbering underground while human civilization reels from a viral pandemic.
Many of us are largely bound to our homes — which is critical to curbing the uninhibited spread of the contagious coronavirus — but we can still witness some of the top wild moments captured on the bear cams in 2019, as brown bears nursed cubs, fought for dominance, and devoured 4,500-calorie salmon.
In fall 2019, after many of Katmai's brown bears dug dens to last through the callous, brutal winter, bear cam operator's explore.org compiled 10 both calming and scintillating bear cam moments from the season. They can be watched below, and we've broken down what's happening in each scene.
At 0:11, bear 273 nurses three "cubs of the year," or "coy," meaning they were born in their den earlier that year. Bear 273 is a medium-sized female bear who often waits to catch jumping salmon at Katmai's Brooks River waterfall.
Bears are generally wary of each other, especially mothers with profoundly vulnerable cubs. But beginning at 1:18, one of bear 273's cubs cautiously approaches and interacts with another bear cub (both mothers are close by).
At 3:55, bear 402 — a veteran and commonly seen bear cam bear — brought her three yearlings (meaning bears in their second year of life) to the tip of the waterfall to catch leaping salmon.
At 4:55, one of the fattest of the bears, bear 480, nicknamed "Otis," is spotted returning to the river in 2019. Otis — an aging bear at around 20 years old — might be the most famous bear on Earth. He's often seen on camera fishing (with great success) below the waterfall in his spot — dubbed "Otis' office."
In this footage, he's seen munching on a salmon.
The largest of the fat bears — often being voted one of the fattest bears in Katmai's annual Fat Bear Week contest — is bear 747.
Look at the size of this animal after a summer of devouring fish.
At 5:20, bear 747 digs a shallow hole, called a "belly hole," to nap in. (There's a big yawn at 6:23).
At 6:35, bear 128 "Grazer" — a female with distinctive, wide-spaced ears — encounters bear 747 while she's fishing atop the waterfall.
After bear 747 incessantly expresses interest in her, Grazer smacks him at around 7:15.
Bear 719, the offspring of bear 435 "Holly" who famously adopted an abandoned cub in 2014, returned to the river with two recently born cubs of her own, seen at 7:32.
The bear cams caught rare footage of an intense fight between two large, dominant males — bears 747 and 68.
The violent tussle starts at 8:25. Bear 747 comes out the loser, after being held down in the water.
Bears don't often fight, because of the risk of injury.
"This was an uncommon instance where bears couldn't settle their dispute without fighting," Mike Fitz, a former park ranger at Katmai National Park and currently a resident naturalist for explore.org, told Mashable in July 2019. "To me, it highlights that they live in a tough, competitive environment with limited resources. 68's move to fight 747 was bold and risky."
SEE ALSO:Cannibalism, infanticide: The dark side of Alaska’s bear camSometimes, male bears (often younger) will play fight with each other.
In this instance, at 10:10, bear 68 and bear 503 (who has an amazing survival story) play fight beneath the waterfall. This takes place in the fall, when both bears are clearly beefed up for the long winter's hibernation.
At 11:50 we see glorious footage of bear 435, "Holly," who won the 2019 fat bear contest.
Holly is shown here at the mouth of the Brooks River in fall.
"You almost get the sense watching her that she’s getting fatter before your eyes," Alaskan bear-viewing guide Drew Hamiltontold Mashable last fall, after witnessing Holly in person.
"This is next level," Hamilton said.
TopicsAnimalsCOVID-19
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