McNeil River Brown Bears

Alaska brown bears(Ursus arctos) are visible from the viewing platforms at the Alaska Department of Fish and Game's McNeil River Wildlife Sanctuary and Refuge.The record is 74 bears at one time as the fearsome animals flock to McNeil River and Mikfik Creek in search of spawning salmon from June to August.
A photo of a brown bear cub taken at the site is featured in the previous post.It was a National Geographic Photo of the Day.
A bearcam also streams live webcasts from the area.
Spots on the viewing platforms are allocated by lottery under the strict conservation regimen imposed by the Department.Viewers are escorted by guides and accompanied by an armed warden.To date,no bear/human incidents have occurred at the site.
The roadless Sanctuary and Refuge consist of some 200 square miles.
Grizzly bears(Ursus arctos horribilis) are a subspecies of brown bear with grizzled fur that has also been called silver-tipped.They are smaller than the brown bears of Southern Alaska because the southern bears have a richer diet and warmer climate.The Kodiak bear(Ursus arctos middendorffi) is another subspecies of brown bear that is limited to Kodiak Island and is the world's largest brown bear.
Brown bears also occur in Western Europe in very small numbers,and in large numbers in the wildlands of Russia.The grizzly bear subspecies once ranged into Mexico and as far east as Lake Erie.

Brown Bear Conservation

Tonight I am commemorating the brown bear,Ursus arctos,the species of bear with the widest distribution,which was just featured by National Geographic in its Photo of the Day feature.In its various subspecies,this large animal is found from North America to Siberia.In North America,there have been some brown bear attacks on humans and livestock.Nonetheless,conservation efforts have been strong and have brought the species back to healthy numbers there.Their situation is worst in Western Europe,where,outside of Scandinavia,they are only few in number in the face of such a heavy human presence.Russia is the brown bear capital of the world,with a population in excess of 100,000.
The beauty of bears is their range of colouration.There are even blond and grizzled brown bears with white-tipped guard hairs,the grizzly bear,in North America.Rare blue and white variants of the black bear,Ursus americanus,also occur and are often mistakenly labeled brown bears.
International in range,the brown bear is a powerful image for the wildlife conservation movement wherever it still survives.