Tag: Explore.org

As Fat Bear Week nears, Chunk shows why this could be his year

Footage shows the massive brown bear struggling “to haul his large caboose up a hill” as fans get ready to vote for their favorite bruins.

In case anyone wonders if the brown bears of Alaska’s Katmai National Park are ready for Fat Bear Week, check out the footage posted below.

It shows 32 Chunk, arguably the fattest bear never to have been named Fat Bear Week champion, struggling “to haul his large caboose up a hill,” according to Explore.org.

Explore.org, with support from Katmai National Park, maintains live webcams on the Brooks River and at Brooks Falls.

Viewers can watch the bears gorging on salmon each summer and fall as they build fat reserves necessary to get them through the winter hibernation season. (Click here if you don’t see a video player.)

https://www.instagram.com/p/C_5nX1wpz99/

Fat Bear Week, a celebration of the bears’ fishing success, is a fan-supported competition head each October. This year’s contest is Oct. 2-8.

While Chunk has never been voted winner of the bracket-style competition, he finished runner-up last year to Grazer.

Grazer, a 19-year-old female bear with “conspicuously blond ears,” was the obvious fan favorite, defeating Chunk in the final bracket by a 2-1 margin after nearly 1.3 million votes were cast.

Expect the hype for this year’s competition to ramp up soon.

Giant panda sprawled on back eating is a perfect weekend meme

A live cam has captured footage showing a giant panda sprawled on its back, as if without a care, snacking on bamboo with crumbs on its tummy. Naturally, viewers could relate.

A live cam in China has captured footage showing a giant panda sprawled on its back, without a care, snacking on bamboo with crumbs on its tummy. Naturally, viewers can relate.

“Me after a bad day at work with cool ranch crumbs all over everywhere [and] everything,” reads a comment below the tweet by Explore.org.

“Day. Made.” reads another comment.

“Just like me in bed eating,” added another follower.

Explore.org wrote: “If you miss goofy bears, look no further than our panda cam.”

Explore maintains the Wolong Grove live cam at the Shenshuping Gengda Panda Center in China’s Wolong Valley Nature Reserve. The live cam provides views in 11 different panda yards.

“Watch as these giant pandas go about their day in this lush bamboo oasis,” Explore writes on its website.

World’s largest falcon photobombs Arctic live-cam feed

Explore.org on Wednesday tweeted a quiz to viewers, asking them to identify the species of falcon that photobombed one of its Arctic live-cam feeds.

Explore.org on Wednesday tweeted a quiz to viewers, asking them to identify the species of falcon that photobombed one of its Arctic live-cam feeds.

“The largest falcon in the world, a rare winter visitor: can you guess the name of this bird sighted on our live cam?” Explore asked.

It didn’t take long for someone to identify the gorgeous raptor as a gyrfalcon, or ghostly gyrfalcon, which is seen curiously examining the camera housing.

Gyrfalcons are the world’s largest falcons, with wingspans of 4 feet. The rarely seen birds of prey nest in remote stretches of Canada and Alaska, where human presence is nil or minimum.

In the winter, they’re sometimes spotted in open regions of the northern U.S.

The Cornell Lab or Ornithology’s All About Birds website provides this overview:

“The largest falcon in the world, the ghostly Gyrfalcon is a fierce predator in the High Arctic, where it chases down ptarmigans in flight or plummets from the sky at breathtaking speeds to strike prey to the ground.”

Besides ptarmigan, gyrfalcons (pronounced JER-falcons) will hunt sage grouse, terns, pheasants, jaegers, and other bird species. They also prey on small mammals such as hares.

Female gyrfalcons are larger than males, weighing an average of 4 pounds.

States All About Birds: “During the breeding season, a family of Gyrfalcons needs an estimated 2–3 pounds of food per day. That’s about 2-3 ptarmigans per day, which adds up to about 150-200 ptarmigan consumed between courtship and fledging.”

Watch: Fishing bear positions itself perfectly for ‘the catch’

Footage has surfaced showing a brown bear so perfectly positioned atop Brooks Falls that a salmon leaps directly into its mouth.

Brown bears at Brooks Falls in Alaska apparently have turned salmon fishing into an art form.

The accompanying slow-motion footage, captured by Michael Gallo, shows a bear so perfectly positioned that a salmon attempting to clear the falls leaps directly into its mouth.

Kodiak Island Expeditions, which was leading a tour of the falls on Saturday, described the event, simply, as “The catch.”

Brown bears on the Brooks River compete for the best fishing spots and the most dominant bears can consume more than 120 pounds of salmon per day.

ALSO: Massive sea creature startles family on Mexican beach; video

The public can observe the bears and their antics via live cameras operated by Explore.org and the National Park Service. The Brooks River is in Katmai National Park.

Surprise visitor appears on BearCam, reveals fishing expertise

Footage from a live BearCam on Alaska’s Brooks River shows a wolf fishing at twilight and catching a salmon.

Brown bears on Alaska’s Brooks River dominate the fishing holes during the sockeye salmon run, but that doesn’t mean they catch all the fish.

The accompanying footage, captured by a Bear Cam operated by Explore.org, shows a wolf searching for and ultimately catching a salmon at twilight. (Both clips are posted below.)

Explore.org described the footage on Twitter: “Close-up of a wolf in infrared on the river bank as it scans the water for fish. He hops into the water when he sees movement.”

ALSO: Watch as massive sea creature startles family on Mexican beach 

Another tweet: “If you’re wondering whether our wolf friend caught a fish – yes, yes he did!”

The Brooks River is in Katmai National Park. In the summer and fall, brown bears gather on the rover and at Brooks Falls to catch salmon as they navigate upriver to spawn in Brooks Lake.

Explore.org operates a series of live cameras on the river in conjunction with the National Park Service.

Watch: Bear slips down waterfall, salmon leaps over bear

Footage from Brooks Falls in Alaska shows a brown bear slipping down a waterfall and a salmon jumping over the bear’s head.

Last week we shared footage of a brown bear bellyflopping after leaping from a waterfall at Brooks Falls in Alaska.

This week a different bear lost its footing at the same location, in Katmai National Park, while trying to intercept sockeye salmon as they forged upriver toward spawning grounds.

As the bear slid down the waterfall, a salmon leaped over its head. The bear would be compelled to reposition itself and try again.

 

Both clips were tweeted by Explore.org, which operates live nature cameras on the Brooks River, where brown bears gorge on salmon and compete for prime fishing spots.

The accompanying footage shows that no matter where a bear might position itself, catching salmon can be difficult.

ALSO: Moose spotted on roof of Montana guest ranch; video

However, some bears are prolific catchers and the more dominant bears may consume more than 30 salmon per day.

Considering that one sockeye salmon packs 4,500 calories, it’s no wonder that the largest brown bears in Katmai National Park will weigh upwards of 1,000 pounds come hibernation season.

“Survival depends on eating a year’s worth of food in six months,” the park states on its website.

BearCam viewers can watch the animals bulk up as the feeding season progresses. In the fall, the public can vote during Fat Bear Week, a March Madness-style competition that serves as “an annual celebration of [feeding] success.”

Last year’s winner was an older bear named Otis, a four-time Fat Bear Week champion.