Khutzeymateen Provincial Park in British Columbia was the first area in Canada to receive protection specifically for grizzly bears and their habitat. It was given the class A park designation in 1994, representing the first undisturbed estuary of its size to receive protection along the northern coast of British Columbia. The area, located around 28 miles northeast of Prince Rupert, has been home to over 50 individual bears in a single season.
Male grizzlies are known to become territorial during their mating season, battling others to defend access to females. Most male grizzlies are ready to breed once they reach three of four years old, but older and larger bears tend to limit access to females for younger males. Though rare, sometimes male bears will attempt to kill cubs to initiate a female’s estrus cycle, when they’re most receptive to breeding. In these cases the sows will fight back fiercely.
In this case, caught on camera by bear & wilderness guide Franco E. Rivera, two male grizzlies appear to be battling over a female, literally frothing at the mouth through their fight.
Fortunately both bears in the video appear to walk away from the fight in decent health, but that’s not always the case. Some battles can end in serious injury, some can end in death. In any case, witnessing the brutality of nature in person is surely an experience like no other. As always if you plan on trying to spot grizzly bears in nature, make sure you bring a good zoom lens or binoculars and keep plenty of distance between yourself and the animals.
Khutzeymateen Provincial Park Wildlife Viewing Guidelines:
Always view wildlife from a safe distance. This helps keep you, your children, and your pets safe. It also minimizes stress on wildlife and maintains their natural behaviour and wariness of humans. Remember, their lives depend on access to these habitats and the natural foods that occur there. Every time we disturb an animal, it reduces their ability to survive in the wild. Follow these rules to enjoy the many incredible wildlife viewing opportunities available across B.C., safely and respectfully:
- Be patient and keep your distance. Observe wildlife by using equipment like binoculars, spotting scopes, and telephoto lenses.
- Never take selfies with wildlife. Doing so is unsafe, as well as being disrespectful and disruptive to animals.
- Do not yell or whistle at an animal to get them to look at the camera. If an animal is focused on you, its natural behaviour is being disturbed.
- Never feed wildlife. Wild animals that are fed by humans may become aggressive and dangerous, often resulting in their destruction.
- Do not approach animals or allow them to approach you. Doing so makes them less afraid of people, which puts both people and wildlife at risk.
- Stay at least 30 m, or approximately three bus lengths, from animals such as deer, moose, wild sheep, and elk.
- Stay at least 100 m, or approximately 10 bus lengths from predators such as bears, coyotes, wolves, and cougars.