Nature, man… it’s such a cool thing.
Despite how brutal, these interactions are what it is all about. The uncommon, once-in-a-lifetime interactions are what we all hope to see every time we step into the great outdoors. The type of encounter you can’t even dream of or chase after to try and find. Just nature doing what nature does.
Black bears and grizzly bears home ranges overlap in many areas. They like a lot of the same things, so in more northern areas, they tend to live fairly close together.
Even though they live in similar habitat and eat many of the same things, the try to avoid each other. As a black bear, that’s probably a good decision.
Grizzlies are known to prey on black bears and especially their cubs.
Black bears can get very large, even some over 600 pounds, but… grizzlies get bigger, weighing north of 700-pounds. The average difference is significant though as a black bear as big as a grizz is not a common thing.
Grizzly bears weigh more, stand taller, have larger claws, more bite power and are just a little more wild. They definitely have the competitive advantage over a black bear.
So, a mother bear definitely does not want to see a grizzly clawing into the den with the young ones sitting in there with her.
That’s what happened here though.
A grizzly bear is seen digging at the ground. It’s hard to tell what he’s doing, but he seems to be fighting with something as he’s digging.
It digs and fights with whatever it is until it takes a different angle at the ground.
Out of nowhere a mother black bear pops its head out, checks if the coast is clear and makes a break for it. Then comes another cub, and another…
Unfortunately, it sounds like one of the cubs didn’t make it as you can hear it wailing in the background while the others make their escape.
“Was out hunting with my dad tonight and seen a grizzly bear 40 minutes outside of Whitecourt Alberta. Got the camera recording and drove up to him only to find him digging the roof off a bear den that had a black bear sow and three cubs cornered inside of it.
In the video the sow tried to fight her way out and one of the cubs tried to make his escape. The grizzly got the one cub but the sow and other two cubs made it away. Craziest thing to watch from less the ten yards away sitting in the truck.”
Brutal…
