Alaskan Brown Bears

The Bears of Kaguyak

Prior to 1800, early Russian sailors had discovered Alaska and had begun to establish settlements, primarily in support of the fur trade. Different fur animals were the targets, but sea otter pelts were especially prized. Russian fur traders treated the native Aleut people harshly in conditions that approached slavery. One such settlement was near Cape Douglas on the Alaskan Peninsula, and it bore the Russian-Aleut name of Kaguyak. The residents of Kaguyak lived in dugouts called barabaras, and they lived as hunter-gatherers engaged in the fur trade, fishing, clamming, and living at the subsistence level.

In 1867, the United States of America purchased the Alaska Territory from Russia for the price of about two cents per acre. Little by little, private Russian land ownership began to withdraw. In 1912, the nearby Novarupta Volcano erupted with an intensity about ten times that of Mount St. Helens, spewing volcanic ash over this entire part of the Alaskan Peninsula. The village of Kaguyak was evacuated. Years later, the Russian Orthodox Church burned there, so within the last forty years or so, very little was left of Kaguyak. The bears were left.

(Augustine volcano)

This entire area, now on the western edge of Katmai National Park and Preserve, is prime habitat for the coastal brown bear, and thousands of these brown bears exist here in Katmai. The coastal brown bear is virtually the same as the grizzly bear, but grizzly is the name normally used for the brown bear in the cold interior of Alaska near Denali National Park. In many interior parts of Alaska, the brown bear is still hunted. However, here along the coast at Kaguyak, there is no hunting, and the brown bears still reign at the top of the food chain.

Further, the brown bears of Kaguyak haven’t had much opportunity to learn bad habits. They don’t have many humans around. They don’t eat garbage or other food of human origin. There are no automobiles, so they have not learned to break into automobiles for food like Yosemite black bears have. There are no automobiles since there are no highways, so the bears don’t get hurt in collisions. To a great extent, the brown bears of Kaguyak are more interested in eating their natural food and raising more bear cubs. They like to eat so much during the summer that they can successfully survive the winter den with nothing to eat for months.

Currently, a few wilderness adventure companies accompany visitors into this brown bear country, and all access is via bush plane. There are no permanent structures of Kaguyak, and only a few visitors are lucky enough to be up close and personal with the Bears of Kaguyak.

Bear facts: Coastal Brown Bear, Ursus Arctos, can grow to be an adult size of five to nine feet head to tail. Many adults will be 400 to 500 pounds, and the very largest males might grow to be 1000 pounds or more in a 20-25 year lifetime. Bears often den throughout the winter, and two cubs are commonly born during the winter, although the litter may be one or three. Emerging in the springtime, cubs stay with their mother (called a sow bear) for at least a year and a half, but they normally leave by the time they are two years old. The large male bear (called a boar) can be quite aggressive toward cubs. Often the cubs are killed this way, and the life expectancy of a newborn cub is quite limited. As a result, the mother bear is extremely protective of her cubs.

(Ursula and cub)

One sow bear is nicknamed Ursula (ursus = bear, in Latin). Ursula bore two cubs, and the one surviving cub is nicknamed Oso (oso = bear, in Spanish). Oso is approximately one and a half years old, so Oso follows his mother around faithfully and mimics her stride. Ursula and Oso are waiting for the salmon run to begin, as that will be their primary source of calories for the next two months. Meanwhile, they eat sedges and lime grass.

(Oso, looking adorable)

(Ursula and Oso, eating grass)

(Ursula standing upright, scanning the horizon)

(Sandy's cubs tell her that it is time for milk)

(Ursula and her cub Oso approach)

(From the protection of Ursula's side, Oso studies the other cubs with their mother, Sandy)

Nowhere else in the world are brown bears known to eat clams. However, here in the coastal areas of the Alaskan Peninsula at Cook Inlet, the brown bears have learned to dig up the Pacific razor clam, then open it with their strong claws using the flat back of one paw as a work surface.

(Ursula and Oso dig for clams as a lone male bear appears)

(Ursula is busy, but Oso has to study the photographer)

(Ursula gobbled down another razor clam)

(Oso seems distracted with other matters)

A territorial dispute had arisen one day. The young bear came onto the salmon fishing area of the older bear, so the older bear felt compelled to chase the younger one away, all the way down the beach. At the other end of the beach, the younger bear dived off into the surf to escape the older bear. Perhaps a lesson was learned about territories. (chase sequence follows)

There are few other animals seen in this area. Red foxes are seen out on the clam flats, and they try to keep some distance from the bears. Bald eagles nest here, and they are waiting for the salmon run to begin, just like the bears. The occasional fresh wolf track is seen.