Foster Mom

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Brown bear cubs nursing.

So check this out – this isn’t just your usual set of nursing cubs. One of these cubs is this sow’s second summer off-spring, but the other cub is a third summer bear that has been adopted by this sow. As you can see here, they nurse, play, just like maternal siblings. Pretty incredible!

Let’s Dance!

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Brown bears, Lake Clark National Park, Alaska.

It is so amazing to see full size bears play like this. This is two of a group of four who played a lot last week! I think this is the same group of sub-adults who banded together a couple of years ago for safety and protection. If so, I would say that bond has continued past the age where most adult bears become fairly solitary. So fun!

Wild Wolf

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Wild wolf, Alaska.

A wild wolf! This wolf was being chased by the bear cub and sow I posted earlier today. Well, I think the cub was chasing the wolf, and the sow chasing down the cub! Such a cool surprise last week!

Crimp and cub

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Brown bear sow with cub, Alaska.

Home for one full day after an amazing Alaska Bear Photo Tour!! We had so much great activity, including 5 different cub nursing sessions, bears playing including adults which I have rarely seen, boars, matting, even spotted wolves on two days! I am ready excited to get back out there.

This is the bear known as crimp and her second summer cub. Crimp had three first year cubs last year. Having only one cub survive the first three years is typical. Funny, last year we were the first humans this cub ever saw, and it was so scared. Crimp walked them by us as to say these humans are safe. This year, the little cub was far more brave, and it wasn’t uncommon for it to approach us!

Alaska Magazine Cover

Ron Niebrugge Alaska, Lake Clark, Photos, Shameless Self Promotion, Travel 2 Comments

February 2021 Alaska Magazine cover.

I can remember devouring every issue of this magazine growing up, so having an image on the cover has extra special meaning to me.  It has been a few years since the last cover, so this is a real treat.  I’m honored!  Thanks Alaska Magazine!
  
This was captured early one morning on one of my Alaska bear photo tours.  We were the only ones out in the field that morning which is an extra treat.  We spotted the sow with two cubs from the lodge and made the short walk to them and had just got set up when one of the cubs climbed onto it’s mom’s back!  Plus, they were even facing the rising sun!  A memorable morning for sure.

Can Brown Bears Climb Trees?

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Brown bear sow, Lake Clark National Park, Alaska.

Funny, when growing up in Alaska I used to always hear the advice that if you ran into a brown / grizzly bear, you should climb a tree, but if it is a black bear, don’t bother. As the advice used to go, unlike black bears, brown bears had claws too long for them to climb trees.

Well I have seen so many brown bears over the years way up in trees to know that this advice is completely wrong. But, we have learned so much over the years Back then I was told grizzles and brown bears were two different species which DNA testing has since proven false. The bears in the interior of Alaska are smaller because of the more limited food source, not because they are a different species. Turns out, having access to high calorie salmon is helpful in growing big.

This was a sow with a couple of young cubs way up in a spruce on a rainy day this past June. Here she is watching a boar on the ground below. I will say, I haven’t seen any of the huge boars climbing trees so maybe they can’t. This probably isn’t lost on the sows.