Sam Vassar captured footage of a brown bear taking down a moose.
Fisherman Sam Vassar just lately posted a wild video to Instagram of a brown bear chasing down and killing a cow moose alongside a dashing river in Alaska. The video was captured within the Bristol Bay space of the state.
“Acquired to witness a as soon as in a lifetime incidence this week up shut and movie your entire interplay — a brown bear stalking and killing a wild moose in Alaska,” Vassar wrote within the submit.
In accordance with Vassar’s feedback, they have been motoring again to camp after they noticed a moose within the river and shortly noticed a bear in sizzling pursuit. Initially, the moose in the reduction of towards the river financial institution, however the bear closed in on it rapidly.
The moose then crashed into the river, the place the bear caught it in shallow water. After which the demise wrestle started.
“I’m going to remain far sufficient away so we don’t scare the bear off,” Vassar says within the video.
If nothing else, this footage is a visceral instance of a bear’s energy and tenaciousness as a predator. Despite the fact that the moose clearly outweighed the bear, the grizzly was in a position to maintain onto the moose and wrestle it to exhaustion in sturdy present.
Sadly, the feedback on the Instagram submit are predictably silly and serve for instance of how many individuals are out of contact with nature.
Bear Predation on Moose
One of many widespread misconceptions about brown bears and grizzlies (that are the identical species) is that they do not typically catch and kill ungulates. A wide range of analysis from the Alaska Division of Fish and Sport suggests in any other case, and the division additionally says that black bears take their share of moose calves as effectively.
“Grizzly bears have been proven to be significantly efficient predators of moose calves from beginning to about 2 months of age and sometimes kill grownup moose within the spring,” in keeping with the ADFG. “On this regard, one grizzly bear is equal to many black bears. Not all bears are equal, nonetheless, and a few bears appear to turn into specialists at killing each grownup and calf moose.”
“Black bears have been discovered to be a very powerful predator of moose calves in some areas of Alaska the place grizzly bears are unusual. In these areas, black bears killed about 40% of all moose calves that have been born. Most predation was by grownup males.”
As this video clearly exhibits, grizzly bears are greater than able to taking down grownup moose.