Portrait_Playing

55 images of an Alaskan Coastal Brown Bear Golden Female and her Cubs, with scenics,
portraits and behavioral shots including the two cubs play-fighting near Silver Salmon Creek.

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Alaskan Coastal Brown Bear

Golden Female and Cubs
Brown Bear Fishing          Assorted Bears

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Images in this section are in several different Galleries on the Photoshelter website.
The Banner below leads to the Gallery Collections page where a Gallery can be selected.

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Images can be found in the following Galleries (Direct Links):

Alaskan Coastal Brown Bear
Brown Bear Fishing       Golden Female and Cubs
Assorted Brown Bear       Brown Bear Composites 

Eagles         Puffins            Assorted Shorebirds

Avocets, Stilts and Yellowlegs         Rodents

Alaskan Scenic

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BrownBear_GoldenFemale_ClimbingBank_X2790


Brown Bear Golden Female Climbing Bank X2790

BrownBear_GoldenFemale_ClimbingBank_X2793


Brown Bear Golden Female Climbing Bank X2793

A golden female Alaskan Coastal Brown Bear climbing the bank at Silver Salmon Creek.

The Alaskan Coastal Brown Bear lives in the coastal areas, as the name suggests.
The southern coast of Alaska has seasonal spawning runs of the five Pacific Salmon,
as well as a milder climate and a rich array of vegetation that allows the bears to grow
larger and live in denser populations than their inland cousins the Grizzly Bear, which
are otherwise classified as the same species. The Brown Bear ranges in color from
a dark brown through a light blond, and has a noticeable hump atop the shoulders.

BrownBearCub_ClimbingBank_X2795M


Brown Bear Cub Climbing Bank X2795 M

A Coastal Brown Bear cub follows his mother up the bank at Silver Salmon Creek.

All of the landscape (horizontal) large version images linked from the thumbnails are 1500 pixels wide.
Portrait (vertical) images are 1200 pixels tall (1290 pixels with title bar). Images designated with an “M”
in the shot number are 5:4 aspect ratio, 1500 x 1290 with a title bar, or 1500 x 1200 without the title bar.

BrownBear_GoldenFemale_X2799


Brown Bear Golden Female X2799

A golden female Coastal Brown Bear strides beside her cub at Silver Salmon Creek.

Silver Salmon Creek is in Lake Clark National Park, at the bottom of the Alaska Peninsula in
southwestern Alaska, on the west side of Cook Inlet between Chinitna Bay and Tuxedni Bay.
Located 100 miles south of Anchorage, Alaska, it is accessible only by boat or float plane.

BrownBear_GoldenFemale_HS2238


Brown Bear Golden Female HS2238

BrownBearCubs_HS2243


Brown Bear Cubs HS2243

A golden female Coastal Brown Bear browses in the grass with her cubs alongside Silver Salmon Creek.

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Brown Bear Cubs HS2240 16x9

The darker cub on the left is the timid cub, and the lighter cub on the right is the adventurous cub.
The cubs definitely had distinct personalities (or ‘bearsonalities’ if you’ll allow me to coin a phrase).
Some of their antics can be seen further below and on the Golden Female Teaching her Cubs page.

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Brown Bear Golden Female X2801 M

The cubs lagged behind their mother a bit, and she stopped to wait for them to catch up.

Cubs are constantly supervised by their fiercely protective mothers. Do not get between them.

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Images in this section are in several different Galleries on the Photoshelter website.
The Banner below leads to the Gallery Collections page where a Gallery can be selected.

PhotoshelterGallerySection


Images can be found in the following Galleries (Direct Links):

Alaskan Coastal Brown Bear
Brown Bear Fishing       Golden Female and Cubs
Assorted Brown Bear       Brown Bear Composites 

Eagles         Puffins            Assorted Shorebirds

Avocets, Stilts and Yellowlegs         Rodents

Alaskan Scenic

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BrownBear_GoldenFemale_andCub_X2802


Brown Bear Golden Female and Cub X2802

The golden female Coastal Brown Bear and the adventurous cub wait for the timid cub.

Cubs are born in the den in January and February. Twins are most common, but litters
range from one to four. When they emerge in June, cubs weigh about 15 pounds, and
they gain weight rapidly on a diet of berries, sedge grass, flowers, nuts and Salmon.

BrownBear_GoldenFemale_X2803


Brown Bear Golden Female X2803

A golden female Brown Bear browsing in the grass beside Silver Salmon Creek.

Brown Bears are one of the most omnivorous of animals, and tend to consume a wide variety of foods.
They eat a variety of plants including berries, sedge grass, flowers, nuts, pine cones, roots and shoots.
Bears also eat winter-provided carrion, insects and grubs, birds and eggs, rodents, clams and crabs,
but Coastal Brown Bears feed mostly on Salmon during the five salmon spawning runs, deriving most
of their nutrition from the fish and eggs. The nutritious diet and the abundance of fish in the area make
Alaskan Coastal Brown Bears larger than their inland Grizzly cousins (males are larger than females).

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Brown Bear Cub X2821

The timid cub carefully approaches his more adventurous brother...

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Brown Bear Cubs Playing X2823 M

BrownBearCubs_Playing_X2824M


Brown Bear Cubs Playing X2824 M

... who apparently decides a challenge is in order, and begins an entertaining play-fight.

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Brown Bear Cubs Playing X2825 M

Bear cubs practice combat in mild play-fights like this, batting each other with their paws,
grabbing at each other, growling and roaring, and pretending that they are going to bite.

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Brown Bear Cubs Playing X2826 M

BrownBearCubs_Playing_X2827M


Brown Bear Cubs Playing X2827 M

The timid cub (on the left) seemed to hold his own fairly well, but the adventurous cub was more aggressive.

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Brown Bear Cubs Playing X2830 M

Alaskan Coastal Brown Bear cubs confront each other during a play-fight at Silver Salmon Creek.

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Images in this section are in several different Galleries on the Photoshelter website.
The Banner below leads to the Gallery Collections page where a Gallery can be selected.

PhotoshelterGallerySection


Images can be found in the following Galleries (Direct Links):

Alaskan Coastal Brown Bear
Brown Bear Fishing       Golden Female and Cubs
Assorted Brown Bear       Brown Bear Composites 

Eagles         Puffins            Assorted Shorebirds

Avocets, Stilts and Yellowlegs         Rodents

Alaskan Scenic

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BrownBearCubs_Playing_X2831M


Brown Bear Cubs Playing X2831 M

The timid cub (left) makes a rare aggressive move...

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Brown Bear Cubs Playing X2833

BrownBearCubs_Playing_X2836


Brown Bear Cubs Playing X2836

... and the adventurous cub responds with a flurry of paw strikes as the timid cub ducks away.

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Brown Bear Cubs Playing X2840 M

The timid cub submits while the adventurous cub roars at him. Their roar is more like a squawk.

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Brown Bear Cubs Playing XXXL

A 1600 x 1032 version of the XXXL Composite (12015 x 7435)
showing Brown Bear Cubs play-fighting at Silver Salmon Creek.

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Brown Bear Golden Female and Cubs X2849

The golden female gathers up her cubs after their play-combat and leads them upstream.

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Brown Bear Golden Female and Cubs X2852

The cubs decide that they can better keep up with Mom on shore. They run after her,
but as she goes around a bend they decide to take the short cut across the creek.
Mom knows walking is faster than swimming, and waits for her cubs to catch up.

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Brown Bear Golden Female and Cubs X2853

BrownBear_GoldenFemale_andCub_X2855


Brown Bear Golden Female and Cub X2855

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Images in this section are in several different Galleries on the Photoshelter website.
The Banner below leads to the Gallery Collections page where a Gallery can be selected.

PhotoshelterGallerySection


Images can be found in the following Galleries (Direct Links):

Alaskan Coastal Brown Bear
Brown Bear Fishing       Golden Female and Cubs
Assorted Brown Bear       Brown Bear Composites 

Eagles         Puffins            Assorted Shorebirds

Avocets, Stilts and Yellowlegs         Rodents

Alaskan Scenic

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BrownBear_GoldenFemale_atSunset_X3075


Brown Bear Golden Female at Sunset X3075

A golden female Alaskan Coastal Brown Bear gazes into the setting sun at Silver Salmon Creek.

More images from this sequence can be seen on the Golden Female Teaching her Cubs page.

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Brown Bear Cub at Sunset HS2302

BrownBear_GoldenFemale_andCub_HS2306


Brown Bear Golden Female and Cub HS2306

The timid cub approaches his mother, who is standing to look over the grass at the adventurous cub.

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Brown Bear Golden Female and Cub HS2308c M

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Brown Bear Golden Female and Cub HS2310c M

As the cub comes closer, Mom turns her attention towards him... which was the idea all along of course.

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Brown Bear Golden Female and Cubs HS2313

BrownBear_GoldenFemale_andCubs_HS2314


Brown Bear Golden Female and Cubs HS2314

As the adventurous cub arrives, the golden female leads them upstream to teach them how to fish.

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Brown Bear Golden Female Teaching Cubs X3175

The golden female Brown Bear looks at the photographer while teaching her cubs to fish.

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Brown Bear Golden Female at Sunset X3201

... later, the golden female leaves the water to gather her cubs and head to a spot further upstream.

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Brown Bear Golden Female at Sunset X3205 M

A golden female Alaskan Coastal Brown Bear in Silver Salmon Creek at sunset.

More images from this sequence can be seen on the Golden Female Teaching her Cubs page.

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Images in this section are in several different Galleries on the Photoshelter website.
The Banner below leads to the Gallery Collections page where a Gallery can be selected.

PhotoshelterGallerySection


Images can be found in the following Galleries (Direct Links):

Alaskan Coastal Brown Bear
Brown Bear Fishing       Golden Female and Cubs
Assorted Brown Bear       Brown Bear Composites 

Eagles         Puffins            Assorted Shorebirds

Avocets, Stilts and Yellowlegs         Rodents

Alaskan Scenic

Sunburst3
BrownBear_GoldenFemale_atSunset_X3215


Brown Bear Golden Female at Sunset X3215

BrownBear_GoldenFemale_atSunset_X3216


Brown Bear Golden Female at Sunset X3216

The golden female leads her cubs up Silver Salmon Creek into the setting sun.

BrownBear_GoldenFemale_atSunset_X3217


Brown Bear Golden Female at Sunset X3217

The golden female Coastal Brown Bear peers into the sedge grass in beautiful light at sunset.

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Brown Bear Cub at Sunset X3219

The adventurous cub follows closely behind Mom...

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Brown Bear Cub at Sunset X3220 M

BrownBearCub_atSunset_X3222M


Brown Bear Cub at Sunset X3222 M

... while the timid cub decided to follow on the other side of the creek, directly toward the photographer.

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Brown Bear Cub at Sunset X3227 M

A close portrait of an Alaskan Coastal Brown Bear cub at sunset.

The path the timid cub used passed right beside me, which unfortunately
put me in between the mother and her cub for a while, including the moments
during which I took the shots above. Getting between a mother and her cubs is
a bad idea, as they are very protective, but she was used to me and didn’t react.

BrownBear_GoldenFemale_atSunset_X3232


Brown Bear Golden Female at Sunset X3232

BrownBear_GoldenFemale_atSunset_X3236


Brown Bear Golden Female at Sunset X3236

Close portraits of a golden female Coastal Brown Bear at sunset beside Silver Salmon Creek.

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Brown Bear Golden Female at Sunset X3236c M

This detail crop from image 3236 of a golden female Alaskan Coastal Brown Bear
shows the image quality you can expect from a full size SXL (click for 1500 pixel version).

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Images in this section are in several different Galleries on the Photoshelter website.
The Banner below leads to the Gallery Collections page where a Gallery can be selected.

PhotoshelterGallerySection


Images can be found in the following Galleries (Direct Links):

Alaskan Coastal Brown Bear
Brown Bear Fishing       Golden Female and Cubs
Assorted Brown Bear       Brown Bear Composites 

Eagles         Puffins            Assorted Shorebirds

Avocets, Stilts and Yellowlegs         Rodents

Alaskan Scenic

Sunburst3
BrownBear_GoldenFemale_atSunset_X3234


Brown Bear Golden Female at Sunset X3234

A close portrait of a golden female Alaskan Coastal Brown Bear at sunset.

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Brown Bear Cub at Sunset X3240

The adventurous cub stepping through the marsh behind his mother at sunset.

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Brown Bear Cubs at Sunset X3242

The timid cub (left) and adventurous cub follow their mother through the marsh at sunset.

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Brown Bear Golden Female and Cub X3244

The adventurous cub browses in the sedge grass as the golden female watches the timid cub.

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Brown Bear Golden Female and Cub X3245

The adventurous cub starts to head out as mom keeps watching for the timid cub.

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Brown Bear Golden Female and Cub X3247

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Brown Bear Cubs at Sunset X3256

The golden female and adventurous cub wait for the timid cub, who finally arrives, and they head upstream.

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Brown Bear Cub in Sedge Grass X3734c M

The adventurous Coastal Brown Bear cub in the sedge grass, three days later at mid-morning.

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Brown Bear Cub in Sedge Grass X3737

A closeup of the adventurous Coastal Brown Bear cub in the sedge grass at Silver Salmon Creek.

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Images in this section are in several different Galleries on the Photoshelter website.
The Banner below leads to the Gallery Collections page where a Gallery can be selected.

PhotoshelterGallerySection


Images can be found in the following Galleries (Direct Links):

Alaskan Coastal Brown Bear
Brown Bear Fishing       Golden Female and Cubs
Assorted Brown Bear       Brown Bear Composites 

Eagles         Puffins            Assorted Shorebirds

Avocets, Stilts and Yellowlegs         Rodents

Alaskan Scenic

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Female_TeachingCubs


Click the Display Composite above to visit the Brown Bear: Golden Female Teaching Cubs page.

BrownBear_Fishing


Click the Display Composite above to visit the Alaskan Coastal Brown Bear Fishing subsection.

Asst_Bears


Click the Display Composite above to visit the Assorted Alaskan Coastal Brown Bears subsection.

Alaskan_Eagles


Click the Display Composite above to visit the Alaskan Eagles page.

Puffins_Scenery


Click the Display Composite above to visit the Puffins, other Wildlife and Alaskan Scenery section.

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