Nothing like a grizzly bear participating in an impromptu bout of gymnastics.
You never know what you are going to see in the Canadian Rockies. The area has an abundance of wildlife, with moose, big horn sheep and bears all calling the mountainous area home. One wildlife photographer by the name Andy Arts got a front row look at a couple of grizzlies running around the area.
And because he was in the right place at the right time, he’s now got a viral video on his hands.
Back in early June, Arts was set up near a roadway when two grizzly bears came barreling out of the woods at high speed. In case you didn’t know, grizzly bears – though they might look a little “chunky” – can run like the wind. They are the fastest of the eight bear species, and have been known to top out at a speed of 35 miles per hour.
There are even videos out there of grizzlies keeping up with cars that are going 40 miles per hour. They’ve got very sneaky speed, and a whole lot of stamina to go with it.
Though 35 miles per hour is typically their topping out speed, they can maintain 25 to 30 miles per hour for miles at a time. So if they are going after a meal, or chasing a foe (like what’s happening in this footage), they can maintain a certain pace and typically have some of the best stamina in the Animal Kingdom. They truly are apex predators.
That being said, even the mightiest and toughest animals on the planet have slip ups from time to time. As these two grizzlies ran out of the tree line, the one that was being chased by the other lost its footing and ended up tumbling end over end. Amazingly, the grizzly didn’t lose any speed at all… after accidentally somersaulting, it just kept going.
The unintentional move may have actually gotten the other grizzly bear a bit startled, because it gave up the chase moments later.
Many social media users in the comments mistakenly thought that the tumbling grizzly was running from a black bear, which would definitely be a sight to see. However, it’s actually just a dark colored grizzly bear that’s chasing after the one in front… the shoulder hump that it possesses is a dead giveaway for a grizzly.
And just for the sake of differentiating the two, we’ll call the one doing the chasing a “darker grizzly” and the one fleeing a “flipping grizzly.”
Like I said, the tumble may have worked to the flipping grizzly’s advantage. It kept a move on, and maybe even picked up some additional speed, thanks to the maneuver. I like to think the darker grizzly running behind thought “What the hell was that?” and that’s why it abandons the pursuit seconds after.
Check it out:
“Bear does a flip while running away from a fight.”
Not that anyone asked… but if I were judging that bear’s gymnastics abilities, I’d give that particular flip a 9.5 out of 10. When you factor in the degree of difficulty (running for its life) and sticking the landing, it’s quite close to a perfect score for me.
