Alaska Bears: Legend and Lore

Photo Curtesy of Scenic Bear Viewing

There is a legend of a great, magical bear that roamed the forests. No bear was its equal, and all people lived in awe and fear of its massive presence. However, there came the day that four talented brothers and their small dog tracked the magical bear and chased it for days through the woods and plains until at last they all fell over the edge of the earth and into the stars. When the seasons change and autumn comes, you can see this story in the stars as the head of the great bear is the square shape some call the bowl of the Big Dipper and the hunters and their dog are close behind in the Dipper’s handle. The Tlingit called them half human, half god and other tribes called them “grandfather” or “cousin”. Their scientific term is ursine and we know them as bears, the most powerful carnivores in all the world, and in Alaska there is a good chance that you will run into one of them.

There are several kinds of bears that a traveler will see in Alaska and it helps to have a knowledge of the names as they are sometimes used interchangeably, though they differ in size and shape:

The black bear is the smaller of the Alaskan bear, though small is relative in the bear family as this animal on average weighs 350 lbs and though their name has the world “black” in it, they can also be brown, grey and cream. A black bear can be distinguished from others as they lack a large shoulder hump and their profile is that of a straight head and snout. Their rump is higher than their shoulders and the ears are longer and come to more of a point. The claws are black and short, giving them an exceptional ability to climb trees. All bears are omnivores and opportunistic, meaning they will eat anything that is available to them, such as insects, berries, fish, deer, moose and caribou. The yearly cycle of all bears is the same. They emerge in the spring from their dens hungry and ready to eat the first green plants that are springing up from the winter months. In summer, they are feasting on fresh berries and the salmon runs, putting on as much weight as possible. By fall, there is a mad dash to eat the dwindling food supply. Those that don’t gain enough weight by this point risk starvation or being killed by other bears. As soon as the snow begins to fall, most bears are hibernating and mothers give birth to cubs inside the den.

Photo Curtesy of Scenic Bear Viewing

Adult brown bears are massive, powerful, the top of the food chain and they rule the forests of Alaska with absolute authority. There is a good chance you will see them on your trip as there are 32,000 brown bears in the state compared with 1200 in the lower 48. They are solitary animals except for a mother with cubs and when they are fishing in the same area. Browns are distinguishable from blacks by their large shoulder hump, which gives them the strength to dig for roots and turn over fallen trees and logs. They also have a concave face and long claws used for digging. Despite their bulk, they are very agile and can run up to speeds of 30 miles per hour. Like blacks, they can be found with coats that range from cinnamon to blonde. In this classification, there are some sub species:

The Kodiak is the granddaddy of brown bears. Standing over 10’ tall on their hind legs and weighing up to 1600 pounds from a steady diet of grass, plants, and berries, they are the largest terrestrial carnivores on earth. About 3500 of them can be found on the pristine Kodiak Archipelago, making it one of the most dense and popular bear viewing sites in Alaska.

Photo by Jon Wilson

The Alaskan brown bear or Alaskan coastal bear comes in second to the Kodiak and can be found up and down the southern coast. While not as large as the Kodiak kings, they still average 800-1200 pounds. Their diet is rich in salmon and they use many different tactics to catch the fish including waiting at the bottom of the falls for the fish to jump, standing at the top of the falls and catching the fish in their mouth as the salmon leap out of the water and even pinning the slippery fish to the rocks with their massive paws.

All grizzly bears are brown bears, but not all brown bears are grizzles. They are the smaller of the Kodiaks and coastal bears and can be found roaming the interior of Alaska and Canada and down into Montana and Glacier National Park and Yellowstone Park.

Photo Curtesy of Scenic Bear Viewing