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This was pretty interesting to watch. These 2 large male brown bears had been strutting and posturing and peeing and rubbing, jaw clacking, and carrying on, generally chest-pounding, trying their best to intimidate one another, for near 20 minutes. During this time, a few other smaller bears had come in and started feeding on the carcass, including this sow and her single yearling cub.
One of the males came down and began to feed as well, but didn't seem unduly concerned about the sow/cub on the other side of the whale carcass. Finally the 2nd male came down, with that classic side-stepping strutting gait, and headed straight for the female. Her cub bails, and rather than follow suit, she gets defensive.
The power is pretty impressive, watch how far backward she goes each time. And incredibly deft footwork for her .. if she didn't maintain her balance, she'd have been in bigger trouble. Then, amazingly, the first male rushes in and attacks the other boar. Surprise is half the battle, and he gets a good grip. Both try to gain a real per hand. Watch the move the 2nd boar makes (see the slow-mo) with his right front paw, trying to "Sweep the leg", right before they separate.
Another classic behavior to watch for: After they separate, see how slowly and stiffly the 2 move around each other, super cautious. Movement, and HOW we move, is SOOO important for communication with these animals. When the one male moves his hind leg just a little abruptly, the other male swings his head back around defensively.
I tell folks on trips all the time, how we move when we're close to bears is super critical. Best is NOT to move, but if you/we DO move, take a lesson from this in how they respond. Slow, cautious and steady, they like, ANY sudden or jerky movement and they get real toey. And the last thing I want to do when a big ole bear is close by is upset him.
Amazing to witness.
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14 сен 2015
