I can’t tell if this grizzly in Kananaskis, Alberta looks like she is sheepish or if she is shy. I’m sure she is just hungry. She was such an entertaining bear to watch last summer.
Read my background in wildlife photography practice, as well!
Again, wish I had a better lens for this one. I was zoomed in on grizzly bear #399 and her 3 cubs two years ago in Grand Teton National Park, as they made their way across Willow Flats in search of a better bush to munch on.
If you want to see more photos of #399 and her story, check out my other posts on this fascinating bear:
1. 399 photo
2. 399 photo
3. 399 photo
4. 399 photo
What?! Who’s there?
Curious grizzly bear in Kananaskis, Alberta.
Read about my wildlife photography practices.
I’ve been lucky enough in the past 3 summers to immerse myself in nature and to do this with an expert in wildlife, my boyfriend.
Since seeing my first bear in 2009, it has been my mission to pick out the difference between a black bear and grizzly bear, as other tourists would often shout out that they have just seen a grizzly bear, when, in fact – it was a black bear.
There are a few key differences to help differentiate between the two:
1. Black bears have a straight snout, while grizzlies have a dished in snout/face profile.
2. Black bears do not have a pronounced shoulder hump, while grizzlies do.
3. Black bears ears stick out more, grizzlies are less pronounced.
4. Black bears have shorter claws, you can definitely see grizzlies light long claws a lot more clearly.
5. Black bears, for the most part are much smaller than grizzlies.
Guess the bear – black or grizzly:
Bear #1
Yellowstone National Park
Bear #2
Yellowstone National Park
Bear #3
Yellowstone National Park
Bear #4
Yellowstone National Park
Bear #5
Waterton, Alberta
Bear #6
Waterton, Alberta
Bear #7
Kananaskis, Alberta
Answers:
#1 – Grizzly #2 – Black Bear #3 – Grizzly #4 – Black Bear #5 – Black Bear #6 – Black Bear #7 – Grizzly
How did you do?
PS – Read my view on wildlife photography.
Here we are in Kananaskis, Alberta again. I am slowly editing down my vast volumes of photographs from the summer, and am stuck in a folder labeled ‘Alberta’.
Here is another photo of one of my favorite grizzly mom and cub duo (also here and here). It was a great show, that’s for sure!
Read my view on ethical wildlife photography, too!
Green is the prime color of the world, and that from which its loveliness arises.
Pedro Calderon de la Barca
Peter Lougheed Provincial Park, Kananaskis, Alberta
I don’t know about this fight. I think I will give it to the sparrow. I saw this griz in Yellowstone N.P. on the road between Norris and Mammoth this summer.
Absolutely hilarious action broke out, while trying to learn my new camera. This lil sparrow (not totally sure the type of bird) came out of nowhere and started attacking this griz, while he was peacefully grazing along the river.
The sparrow successfully moved him away from – a possible nest?…as the griz moved back and over the hills in a sort of defeatist gait.
(I have many more, totally blurry photographs, but they were so terrible because my manual focus was in play, and it was dusk – turning into a pitch black evening). But what a show!
awww no, go away!
One of my readers pointed out something very important in my last post.
I should have made this preamble before I began posting photos that I took of ‘cute little teddy bears’ from my summer adventures of camping in various Canadian and US national parks.
It is very dangerous to approach ANY wildlife. As you will see on many signs around the park you are in, it is illegal to feed the wildlife and highly recommended (and the law in a few parks) to stay at least 100 yards away from a bear, wolf, cougar (and other large predators) and 25 yards from all other wildlife when outside of your car.
This summer, and the two previous summers, I enjoyed months of wildlife photography, but enjoyed it in a safe and responsible manner (aka zoom lens, inside my car)
If you were planning on hittin’ the road and exploring a national park near (or far) from you – make friends with park rangers as they often know how to handle situations when an animal is near. Listen to them – they know (usually). Visitor Centers are also key if you are new to a park. It’s wise to find out what the rules and regulations are and how you stay safe and responsible in a territory where bears, bison, elk, etc. frequent.
If you leave any food or beverage around your campsite unsupervised and a bear is exposed to this food, this bear will be eradicated and the blood of this bear will be on your hands. This actually happened in our camp area this summer (don’t worry: we had the human culprits fined before the bear was able to grab any food).
Given the concern of habituating bears and the omni-present reality that there will be that one person who crosses the line, many have argued that if you see a bear in a national park, you should not stop to watch it or take a photograph, knowing that it will lead to a bear jam. And while I understand this argument, there is an important counterpoint.
Bears – and other indicator species – need large, roadless wilderness in order to survive. While many of these spaces exist in the world, places like Yellowstone and Banff are not and never will be a roadless wilderness. In fact, though the perception is that these wild spaces exist to conserve wildlife, the reality is they were created almost always for the benefit of the people. It’s a fact we have to work with. Many national parks are trying to re-wild their front and back country and put a heightened focus on animal conservation. This is admirable. But roadways and trails (and, frustratingly, towns and golf courses and ski resorts) are here to stay. As a result, this imperfect version of protected wilderness needs to strike a fine balance between animal needs and the bigger picture of helping people foster a love for nature and conservation.
Seeing bears in the wild is a remarkable experience and positive bear (and wildlife) encounters are critical to creating a culture that appreciates and supports conservation. It’s a proven fact that people who have first-hand experience with a region or a specific animal are more likely to believe in its protection. So while most of us can appreciate why many parks discourage bear watching, in my opinion, it’s a futile fight and a misguided one to boot.
Parks like Banff and Yellowstone will never be the kind of wilderness required to maintain functioning populations of large carnivores; however, in order to create the political will to establish such spaces, these parks can assist conservation through land protection, yes, but also can play a more critical role in sparking a love in people for wilderness.
I am very lucky myself that my boyfriend studies bear behaviour, has been trained by world renowned bear biologists and bear guides and has had experience of over 20 years photographing and researching not only bears, but many other types of wildlife all across North America. We should all be so lucky to have a guide such as him. But for many people, their ‘guide’ will be rangers and the difference between a good ranger and a bad ranger is stark.
We need parks and rangers to champion policies and people that use wildlife jams as a manageable tool to provide people with first-hand education and positive experiences (and photos) to take home and share with their social networks. Yes, there will be times when a wildlife jam is inappropriate (impact on the animal, impact on traffic, people safety, etc.) and a good ranger knows the difference between a bad jam that can’t happen and a good jam that is safe. And by educating people at jams – and, in a sense, deputizing them to help look-out for animals and people at jams without rangers – creates the conditions for positive experiences and, critically, an environmentally conscious populous.
Yellowstone’s wolf project is a great example of how a park’s policy has led to this difficult balance being achieved and rangers like Yellowstone’s John Kerr are the gold standard in conservation law enforcement.
At the other end of the spectrum (and this is a blog for another day) Kananaskis Country – and their front line conservation officers – are the sad example of what not to do. Anger, intimidation and policy making on the fly is no way to handle people, bears or achieve the balancing act of necessary co-existence.
So I thank my reader for reminding me to write this important back-story that I failed to provide the first time round and I hope it helps provide food-for-thought for others who are planning on watching wildlife in national parks. Guidelines exist for a reason and all animals should be respected and given their space. But we also need parks to help people find inspiration from nature and watching/photographing wildlife is a necessary evil to help create real parks that place animals first. It’s a balance, but Yellowstone and Jasper proves it is possible, whereas Kananaskis and Grand Teton remind us work remains to find a better way.
Please read my previous post on how to deal when encountering an aggressive bear. It’s very rare, and if you do read about a bear attack, it’s more than likely the human did not follow the appropriate protocol in an area with bears.
A few links to help you be safe and a responsible guest:
What a gorgeous mother griz in Kananaskis, Alberta. Too bad the park rangers there are the worst you might ever encounter!
Past Photos:
Welcome to Lamar Valley in Yellowstone. One of my favorite areas in this vast park.
I know I mentioned earlier that I would talk about my top 3 hikes this summer, but I just had to include my #4 pick.
At a starting elevation of 8864 feet (end 9600 feet), it’s very surprising if you happen to see anyone else on the trail (aside from a herd of pronghorn).
As the name states, it is one of the ridges of Amethyst Mountain, starting just past the Yellowstone River. And you basically have this place to yourself. Not many people set out to hike this trail, that, as we discovered, had many paths.
And, as the name also states, you may see some fine specimen on this trail, including: pronghorn, grizzly bear, elk, bison, and rarely, moose.
Which path to take? Umm, we decided uphill was the way to go – the steeper, the better.
What my boyfriend and I found amazing about this hike, aside from the lack of people on the trail, was the glimpse we got of Yellowstone ‘behind the scenes’.
We could see, to our right, the Tower Falls area. A place where we spent countless hours watching two sets of black bears with cubs. We had no idea how enormous the area was behind the ridge. Imagine all the wildlife we would be able to spot if we could have seen into this area!! It just blew my mind.
To our left, we could see the entrance to the Lamar Valley, and again, our mouths were dropped at the areas we would never have be able to see from the road.
Difficulty? I would say moderate. It’s a high elevation hike, little shade, and steep hills. Make sure you have good hiking boots, or you might end up downhill skiing as I did on the way back.
