We spent several days at Geographic Harbor, Katmai, Alaska watching numerous Coastal brown Bears feasting on the plentiful salmon. Sitting quietly, the bears came close and were oblivious of us. We were intrigued by this bear’s approach to fishing. It spent most the time walking around on its hind legs. At the beginning this was to look for salmon but without success. Finally, as another bear appeared close by, standing up was a way to keep track of a potential adversary. It then left the scene in a rather undignified manner!
The Brown Bear (Ursus arctos) and the Grizzly Bear are the same species. The former term is often used to denote coastal animals whilst the latter is used to refer to inland bears.
These bears will eat a range of vegetation and once the salmon start to run they gorge themselves on this abundant food source in preparation for the winter months and hibernation.