Dominant Male Brown Bears

[brobear]

*This thread should have been started back in 2017. The famous and infamous male brown bears of the modern era. Let's keep this beginning in 1960 upward. 
 
Credits to Spalea: "Grizzly 791 stands proudly on top of a bull elk he killed and cached earlier that morning. When I first saw 791 last year he killed and ate another grizzly bear shortly after. He is the largest collared grizzly in the park, and clearly, a force to be reckoned with." 

[brobear]

Grizzly 791

[horribilis]

Jun 13, 2022 6:51:14 GMT -5 brobear said:

*This thread should have been started back in 2017. The famous and infamous male brown bears of the modern era. Let's keep this beginning in 1960 upward. 
 
Credits to Spalea: "Grizzly 791 stands proudly on top of a bull elk he killed and cached earlier that morning. When I first saw 791 last year he killed and ate another grizzly bear shortly after. He is the largest collared grizzly in the park, and clearly, a force to be reckoned with." 

Badass pic . Was he weighed since the person mentioned he's a collared male ?

[brobear]

BEARS, The Mighty Grizzly of the West.
Julie Argyle.

GRIZZLY 791

791 was born in 2011. Before he came to Yellowstone, he had been in trouble for chasing cattle and was pretty much on his last chance before possibly being euthanized. Once in Yellowstone, he never left, and has sense made the area his home. At eight years old, he weighed in at 500 pounds. Male grizzlies in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem average between 200-700 pounds. So, 791 is a big bear. He has been collared twice, but at the time of writing this, he does not currently have a collar. He also has tags in both ears.
Grizzly 791 will ultimately go down in history as the bear who, in the fall of 2020, took down a giant six-point bull elk in the Yellowstone River in Hayden Valley. While I do have many memories of 791, this is one that will top the charts forever.

I was driving along at first light on a beautiful fall morning. A light fog covered the valley floor and there was a slight chill in the air. At the time, even though I love grizzly bears, the only thing on my mind was finding wolves. I pulled over in a pullout, parked, got out, and waited for the morning light to spread across the valley. As I was standing there, I looked back to where I just came from, and saw cars starting to pull over. Suddenly someone pulled up and mentioned the word "bear."

I immediately jumped in my vehicle and headed back that direction. When I pulled up, I saw a grizzly charging into the water with an incredible bull elk a few feet ahead of it. By the time I got out of my car, the grizzly had jumped on the elk's back and was trying to take it down. The elk was thrashing his antlers and splashing around in the water trying to get the bear off its back. Unfortunately, the elk wasn't having any luck. The bear then moved to the side of the elk and started spinning it, back to belly, and within a few seconds, the elk was drowned.

[brobear]

Still not believing what I had just witnessed, I looked up and realized that the current was pulling the bear and the elk toward my side of the river. I slowly started to look up, and within a few seconds, I was looking directly into the eyes of this enormous grizzly. I took a deep breath, and waited to see what happened next. Thankfully, the bear grabbed the elk with his teeth and started swimming with it to the opposite side of the river.

By the time 791 got about ten feet from shore, he was exhausted. He moved forward about another six feet and then stopped. He turned the elk on its back, and ever so delicately, opened it up and ate a few bites of this well-deserved meal. He then pulled it to the bank of the river and sat down while slowly looking around at the audience that had gathered.

During the next few days, 791 cached the carcass, had visits from a wolf pack, and also had another bear come in and take the carcass away from him. Even though 791 was much larger than the other bear, he must have realized that bear was considerably older and wiser than he.

What an incredible bear, and what an amazing experience. _Julie Argyle.

[brobear]

Not long before taking the bull elk down in the river, 791 took a bison carcass away from a pack of wolves. For a couple of days he lay on top of the bison and never let the wolves have a bite. He is definitely a force to be reckoned with. 
_Julie Argyle. 

[brobear]

Van is Back! First Day Of Bear Season! Katmai 2019
By Brad Josephs · On June 17, 2019

Here is a quick update on the status of the treasured Katmai Coast Bears after I was able to join my friend Drew Hamilton on a day bear viewing trip out of Homer.

It was a beautiful day, with perfect light overcast for photography. When we first arrived there were few bears in the meadow, but within thirty minutes of our arrival bears began showing up from all over the place.

I was super excited to see that a giant male, who was pursuing a female, was actually the legendary Van!!! have known this bear for over ten years and have watched him grow into the biggest bear I have ever seen in my life. He is getting old, and I estimate him to be around 20 years old. He became famous as he starred in the BBC film the Great Bear Stakeout. 
 
One of the most intimidating things a person can ever see in their entire life is a giant male brown bear approaching you. Out there the bears totally ignore people, and I have spent lots of time with this bear, so there was no danger. But still, what an awesome sight. 

[brobear]

Van still drives females crazy, and drives all other males into the distance, though he isn’t nearly as big as he used to be. Lots of scars show that he has been challenged in the last few years by up and coming competitors. He faced no challengers for many years. 

[brobear]

Mating with amazing glacier backdrop. Van has passed his genes onto many bears through his years of supremacy. 

[brobear]

These guys mated for around 30 minutes….  

[brobear]

Here is a pic of Van from 3 years ago 

[brobear]

Van a few years ago…. Just massive 

[brobear]

VAN the Legendary Bear  

[Montezuma]

The ways how Brown bears use body language to show domination and subordinance.


www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=https://www.researchgate.net/figure/Appeasement-of-a-subordinate-by-a-dominant-bear-A-A-subordinate-brown-bear-S1-upper_fig3_273259003&ved=2ahUKEwjQx47Wm7v6AhVshv0HHV21Cn8QFnoECEQQAQ&authuser=1&usg=AOvVaw1dF45zj9bb5SOVoyg5OEZG

[brobear]

From Reply #13 above:
Aggressive body language of bears and wildlife viewing: a response to Geist (2011). --------- The pdf also contains Misconceptions about black bears: a response to Geist (2011) by Rogers & Mansfield 2011, ----- as well as Geist's rebuttal: Response to Rogers and Mansfi eld (2011) and Stringham (2011)

A common consequence of people calmly, closely viewing animals is that the animals lose much of their fear of humans – a phenomenon often called “habituation.” Although this facilitates viewing, it might also pose a danger according to Geist, who built his career on close observation of ungulates in the wilds of North America. Loss of fear is often following by rising curiosity, and then by rising aggression as an ungulate tries to dominate the person, as Geist experienced with wild sheep (Ovis spp.). Geist argues that these same things happen with medium- to large-bodied carnivores such as coyotes (Canis latrans), wolves (C. lupus), and bears (Ursus spp.), which may also attempt to prey on the person. As support for his thesis, Geist points out similar broadside displays in all 3 taxa, where opponents walk side-by-side in parallel or anti-parallel positions. He considers broadside displays a warning of imminent attack, especially by mountain goats (Oreamnos). My rebuttal makes the following points: (a) As Geist has argued elsewhere (e.g., 1974), attack by Oreamnos from a broadside position is phylogenetically primitive. So it is quite plausible that threats also evolved as broadside displays to manipulate an opponent without actually having to risk combat. However, as Geist also points out, most ungulates now attack frontally, and broadside displays have become increasingly ritualized. They are less likely to preface attacks than to preface frontal threats, which in turn may preface attacks. Canids and bears also attack frontally. (b) Boadside displays by ungulates and wolves involve prolonged broadside orientation toward the opponent, while both either stand still or walk. By contrast, so-called broadside displays by bears tend to be brief components of displays (such as sumo strutting) that present the animal to its opponent in numerous orientations. Furthermore, bears almost never attack directly out of a lateral threat display or even out of the frontal orientation while sumo strutting. (c) Numerous other postures, gestures, and vocalizations are also described, (d) as are tips for viewers to minimize their risk during close encounters. These observations are based on the author’s decades of observing black and brown bears in the wilds of Alaska and other parts of North America.

[brobear]

Mar 18, 2019 5:31:42 GMT -5 King Kodiak said:

YELLOWSTONE DOMINANT MALE BEAR CALLED PREACHER.



HIS TERRITORY

He had achieved the nickname, 'Bison Killer"