I took these photos of this magnificent grizzly bear yesterday (November 14). The bear was at the side of the #1 highway between Lake Louise, Alberta and Field, British Columbia. I have never seen a more beautiful, big and healthy wild grizzly before. It was a dream come true.
*Update: I recently learned the sad truth about why this grizzly was on the railway tracks. The reason is grain. Railway cars leak grain. The containers are poorly designed and often loose their entire load of grain by the time they reach the coast. The cost of this leakage is death for the bears. Most bears in BC and Alberta loose their lives to trains. The only reason is that they migrate towards the tracks to eat the spilled grain. Don’t you think it is time we designed better grain cars? Is a grizzlies life worth nothing to our government?
Sandra
Great pictures of the bear. Wow is he huge!
Melissa Mix Hart
He really was huge. I couldn’t believe it when I saw him at the side of the highway,with his silver-tipped fur he looked at first like a mountain gorilla!
Miranda
YOU LUCKY ~!@#$$&^#&$&^!!!!!
I am SO jealous! She’s GORGEOUS!!!!
Johan
Did you notice that he has a green tag in his ear? Wonder what that means. Great pictures.
And Miranda: there is of course a slight possibility that this is a male.
Johan
Oh, I forgot. There appears to be a transmitter of sorts in his/her other ear – notice the antenna. Or else it is a miniature wine bottle…
Melissa Mix Hart
Yes, it was a thrill of a life time for me, photographing this magneificent beast. And I did not have to leave the van. Although I was so excited, my hands were shaking and I could barely get my zoom lens on!
I call it a he becasue of the fact it was obviously a full adult and had no cubs with it–they would most likely be getting ready for winter togethe, if it were a female with cubs. And the poor darling has obviously been tagged to the hilt by parks people or scientists. I imagine all those tags would be annoying to the bear.
theresa_hart
I don’t know, but I think she looks like a girl – maybe a young girl that has no babies yet?
Melissa Mix Hart
Hi again!
Thi particular bear was massive. I’ve seen many a grizzly–a few in the wild and some in zoos. This was the biggest by far. So, perhaps this indicates it is an older bear and perhaps a male. I know females tend not to be quite as large as they are so busy looking after and feeding their little ones. It’s hard to tell the size from my pic but trust me–he or she (my guess is a male) is HUGE!