5. What are the different fishing styles bears use at Brooks River?

Fishing styles are often learned behaviors. Many bears use the same techniques as their mother, plus others that they learn on their own. Some bears have mastered many styles, while other bears stick with the one that works. At Brooks River, you can observe many different types of fishing styles including:

Stand and wait: Bears will stand on top of Brooks Falls and wait for sockeye salmon to jump close enough to catch in their mouths. This fishing technique is generally used by adult bears that can defend this fishing spot, but it is also used by some younger bears when space is available. This is a good technique to use when many salmon are jumping at Brooks Falls, but when no salmon are jumping this spot is quickly abandoned. Standing on top of the falls is precarious, however. Bears sometimes fall off so they rarely shift position once they have established a place to stand.

Sit and wait: Bears will sit just underneath Brooks Falls in several places, like the plunge pool or “jacuzzi,” and wait for salmon to swim to them. Bears in the jacuzzi simply sit and wait for fish to swim into them. When they feel a fish in the water, they quickly pin it to the stream bottom or against their body with their paws, bite it, and begin to eat. The plunge pools below the falls are the most coveted fishing spots and are typically occupied by the most dominant bears.

Dash and grab: Bears often chase fish and attempt to pin them to the river bottom with their paws. This is commonly used early in the salmon run, but because this technique is energetically costly it is quickly abandoned when the salmon run begins to thin.

Snorkeling: Bears that snorkel are simply looking for fish under the water. This technique is used almost universally by bears throughout the summer, but it is especially common and useful in the fall when many dead and dying salmon are in the Brooks River and Naknek Lake.

Pirating: Pirating bears steal fish from other bears. Pirating is more common early in the salmon run, but is not often observed in September or October. The threat of piracy will cause certain bears (like smaller subadults) to run with their fish away from the river and into the forest where they are less likely to have their fish stolen.

Diving: This is a fishing technique that most bears do not use. However, at the mouth of the Brooks River or even in the jacuzzi at Brooks Falls, you might see a bear completely submerge seeking fish. Diving is used more frequently in the fall with dead salmon littering the river bottom. In the 1980s and 1990s, the bear nicknamed Diver was a master at this technique. More recently bears #402 and #489 have been seen diving.

and have been seen diving. Begging: Bears do not share food with other bears, but some bears will still attempt to beg from others. This interaction occurs between bears that are highly tolerant of each other. Begging bears approach another (usually more dominant) bear eating fish and often position themselves inches away from the other bear. If a begging bear gets any fish, it is usually leftover scraps (gill plates, mandibles, and entrails) that the other bear doesn’t want. Begging bears often vocalize loudly, making noise reminiscent of a bawling cub. Begging is not a common behavior.

Back to Top

6. At what age is a bear considered an adult?

Katmai’s biologists classify bears as adults once they are 5-6 years old. The distinction between a subadult and an adult bear is somewhat arbitrary, but like many other organisms adulthood is defined by reaching sexual maturity. Like in humans, there is no set age when this happens, but it generally occurs around the bear’s sixth year.

7. What is a subadult bear?

Subadults are young brown bears typically between 2.5 and 5.5 years old. They are independent of their mothers but have not reached sexual maturity.

8. Do the same bears return to Brooks River in the autumn that were here in July?

Yes and no. Not every bear that uses the Brooks River in July returns to fish in autumn. Likewise, some bears will use the river only in autumn. Where the Brooks River bears go when they are not using the river is not well known.

9. How many fish can a bear catch and eat?

A lot! On days when many salmon are migrating in the river, a large and dominant male bear will sometimes catch and eat more than 30 fish per day. Smaller bears that cannot compete for the best fishing spots, or bears that are less skilled at fishing, may catch and eat considerably less fish.

10. Do male bears kill cubs?

Yes, but overall infanticide in bears rarely occurs. It is even more rarely seen and is not fully understood. Several hypotheses have been proposed to explain why bears kill cubs.

Food: Bears will kill cubs for food, so certainly in some situations hunger plays a role. Yet, cubs are sometimes killed and not eaten.

Increase the male bear’s reproductive potential: Motivation to mate with a female bear may drive a male to kill her cubs. Female bears will not go into estrus as long as they are nursing. If a female loses her cubs in the spring or very early summer, then she may enter estrus and be receptive to mating. However, bears are promiscuous. A female may mate with several males especially in places with densities of bears, like the Brooks River, so there is no guarantee that a male bear that kills a cub would sire another litter with the mother, nor is there any guarantee that the male bear would even have access to the female. Another more dominant male could appropriate the female for himself.

Reduced competition: Perhaps some bears view cubs as potential competitors in the future. Through infanticide, a bear can eliminate a competitor at its weakest point. This is one fewer bear that the adult may have to compete with in the future.

There is no “one size fits all” explanation for infanticide in bears. Female bears have been observed killing cubs as well, so the behavior is not restricted to males. Infanticide may be difficult to reconcile from a human’s point of view, but bears exist and behave outside of our moral and ethical boundaries.

Back to Top

11. When is the best season to see bears on the cams?

Late June through the end of July and early September through mid October is when bear numbers are greatest along the Brooks River. The brown bears of Katmai are eating machines. A Katmai bear must eat a full year’s worth of food in 6 months to ensure its survival. Katmai’s bears predictably congregate around rich and concentrated sources of food. At Brooks Camp this means salmon.

During the peak of the salmon migration in July, bears will fish for salmon all along the Brooks River, but bears will be especially concentrated at Brooks Falls. The falls creates a temporary barrier to migrating salmon which gives some bears the opportunity to catch many fish with little effort. Typically, the largest and most dominant bears along the river fish at Brooks Falls. In July, many of the bears that cannot compete for fishing spots at Brooks Falls will fish the lower half of the Brooks River. Females with cubs are usually easiest to see near the mouth of the Brooks River, but some will also fish at Brooks Falls.

After the salmon begin to spawn and die in late summer, bear activity is concentrated in the lower half of the Brooks River. In some years a few bears may still fish at Brooks Falls and the upper Brooks River in September and October, but most will patrol the slower moving waters of the lower Brooks River as they search for dead and dying salmon that collect near the river mouth and bridge.

12. Where are the different bearcams located?

All of the cams are installed on existing infrastructure (wildlife viewing platforms or radio repeaters). Two cameras are located at Brooks Falls at about the midpoint in the river. One camera is located 100 yards downstream of the falls at the Riffles. At the mouth of the river, two more cameras are attached to the Lower River Platform and one camera is underneath the floating bridge. Finally, one camera is located near the summit of Dumpling Mountain.

13. Do bears share food with other bears?

No, although it sometimes appears like they do. Some bears tolerate the close proximity of other bears. These tolerant bears will often let subordinate bears approach them, even when they are eating fish. The approaching bear may attempt to beg fish, but the tolerant and more dominant bear won’t share. It just leaves unwanted fish parts behind and the other bears pick up the leftovers. The compassion to share is believed to lie outside a bear’s capacities.