Usually having the high ground in a battle is beneficial, but it didn’t work out like that in this Yellowstone National Park standoff.
The grizzly bear in this footage shows that you don’t have to be big to fight big. Of all the animals you could choose to pick a fight with (I’m talking from the perspective of other wild animals), the grizzly bear is probably on the short list of worst predators to match up against.
Grizzlies are known to be some of the fiercest animals on the planet. This one didn’t have the full-bodied size that many grizzly bears possess (at least not yet), but it still had razor-sharp claws and incomparable strength.
That’s probably why these Yellowstone wolves challenged the bruin while also never getting all that close to the wild animal. It was a smart move by the canines, even though they actually appeared to have a size advantage on the younger bear.
Andrea Baratte, the tour guide in Yellowstone National Park that filmed this interaction, posted it to his Instagram account with the caption:
“Just after sunrise we were watching this grizzly bear guarding a bison carcass. The wolves were challenging the grizzly, but gave up soon and bedded nearby. The bear kept feeding on it for a while before leaving the carcass.”
That bear wasn’t letting those wolves get close to the food it had claimed as its own… at least not until it had finished its portion.
Those that viewed the video on social media pointed out the size difference between the wolves and the bear, and the numbers advantage that the canines had. The comments below go to show you how fierce the grizzly bear is regarded out in nature:
“I always forget how big wolves are until I see one next to something else.”
“The one wolf’s body language is quite submissive, so they seem to entirely recognize that this bear could be a threat to them.”
“Those wolves are f**king tanks.”
“They could only do this with a very juvenile grizzly.”
“The wolves might want to go get a couple of more friends.”
