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As grizzly bear tries to rip camera from tree, thoughts turn to horses

Footage showing bear cub’s prolonged assault on camera has folks in Alberta worried about what’s to come this spring.

A group that supports the conservation of wild horses in Alberta, Canada, has shared footage from last July, showing a grizzly bear cub’s prolonged assault on a trail camera fixed to a tree.

“Another few weeks and we can start watching for tracks as these guys wake up come out looking for something to eat,” Help Alberta Wildies Society stated Sunday via Facebook. “This cub was totally committed to getting our camera off of that tree.”

While the cub seemed intent on claiming a new toy, many HAWS followers expressed concern about the threat grizzly bears pose for the region’s free-roaming horses. (Click here to view the footage if a video player doesn’t appear below.)

https://www.facebook.com/HelpAlbertaWildiesSociety/videos/1151601869310189

“Prayers for all the horses and their babies on the way,” reads the top comment.

To be sure, when grizzly bears emerge from hibernation on the eastern slopes of the Rocky Mountains in Alberta, wild horses, especially foals, will be on the menu.

HAWS cameras have captured several scenes showing bears chasing horses. One of the more dramatic scenes was captured in May 2022, showing horses running for their lives with a grizzly bear perhaps 40 yards behind charging at full sprint.

In its description, HAWS wrote: “The next time someone tells you that the Wild Horses have no natural predators, send them to me. We are losing a lot of horses this year, sooner and quicker than in past years. Not just the foals. Adults also.”

Watch: Wild stallion fiercely protects foal from wolves

Footage shows the wolves searching for an opening, but the stallion and herd mates weren’t about to give them one.

A group that studies wild horses in Alberta, Canada, on Monday shared trail-cam footage showing a stallion and herd members intently defending a foal from wolves.

“A lot of people ask us if the Stallion would try to protect his foal from wolves,” Help Alberta Wildies Society stated via Facebook. “This short video will give you an idea of what that might look like.”

The footage (posted below), which HAWS said was captured a year ago, shows the stallion leading a determined effort to cut off the wolves’ advances. (Click here if video player doesn’t appear below.)

https://www.facebook.com/HelpAlbertaWildiesSociety/videos/1600909290503558

Viewers will note that the wolves steer clear of the larger horses (and their hooves) but remain persistent in trying to single out the foal.

Reads the top comment: “The wolves want them to run so they can separate their intended prey and isolate it to take it down. When the herds stand their ground and put the foals in the center the predators tend to look for easier prey.”

The outcome was not clear, but the horses appear determined to hold their ground.

On a related topic, HAWS also has clips showing horses running from grizzly bears, which can sprint up to 35 mph. The bears, like the wolves, are hoping to catch a weary foal or a larger horse to fall and become injured.

In 2022, we featured one such chase that also involved a foal, with the grizzly in close pursuit. HAWS was quoted:

“The next time someone tells you that the Wild Horses have no natural predators, send them to me. We are losing a lot of horses this year, sooner and quicker than in past years. Not just the foals. Adults also.”

It was not clear if the bear was successful in its chase.

‘Cautious eyes’ focus on grizzly bear family in Yukon meadow

Momma grizzly bear and two large cubs have a wary audience in wild horses that appear ready to bolt at the first sign of trouble.

A trail camera in Canada’s Yukon Territory has captured an interesting scene involving a momma grizzly bear and two cubs being watched intently by wild horses.

“A beautiful grizzly family strolls along on a recent autumn morning as cautious eyes watch from afar,” David Troup of Yukon Wildlife Cams described Thursday via Facebook.

Viewers will note that the horses appear frozen into the landscape; they’re that wary of the bears and making a move that might prompt a predatory charge. (Click here if a video player does not appear below.)

https://www.facebook.com/yukonwildlifecams/videos/839394361509756

Troup told FTW Outdoors that his camera captured this scene Sept. 15 and added that he was not aware of grizzly bear predation involving this group of horses.

Grizzly bears will sometimes chase horses in the hope of catching a tired foal or causing a large horse to fall.

The scene captured by Troup’s camera is reminiscent of a dramatic scene captured by a trail-cam network in 2022 in Alberta, Canada, involving grizzly bears chasing horses that were clearly running for their lives.

Regarding that scene, the Help Alberta Wildies Society stated on Facebook: “The next time someone tells you that the Wild Horses have no natural predators, send them to me.

“We are losing a lot of horses this year, sooner and quicker than in past years. Not just the foals. Adults also.”

Wolf steals trail camera and video evidence ‘is a bit telling’

A remote trail camera in Alberta, Canada, has captured nighttime footage showing a wolf running off with another camera.

The footage is amusing in that viewers can track the purloined camera in the wolf’s muzzle because of a bright light detected by other trail cameras.

The cameras are monitored by the Help Alberta Wildies Society (HAWS), which conducts research on wild horses.

“In case there was any doubt about who ran off with the trail camera, the evidence is a bit telling,” HAWS joked on Facebook.

HAWS informed followers that it retrieved the camera and “it was pretty chewed up but it kept recording.”

HAWS added that the infrared light from the camera is not visible to wolves or humans. The only reason viewers can see the light is because it was detected by other cameras utilizing the same technology.

“The trailcams pick up that light when they’ve been triggered by movement at night,” HAWS explained. “It was totally dark as far as the wolf could see.”

Two wolves are shown in the footage, including the camera thief, which ultimately trots in front of the camera that captured the footage.

The wolves belong to a pack of seven that “are picked up frequently by our cameras as they pass by our research areas for wild horses,” HAWS told FTW Outdoors.

It was not clear why the wolf removed the camera from its anchor but several viewers joked, before being educated on the invisibility of infrared light, that it might have needed a flashlight.

Watch: Suspenseful grizzly bear approach features comical twist

Footage showing a grizzly bear and two cubs approaching a trail camera takes an amusing turn, thanks to some clever editing.

A group that strives to protect wild horses in Alberta, Canada, has published footage showing a grizzly bear with two cubs approaching a trail camera.

The bears are large and the music is ominous-sounding until one cub pauses to exhibit scent-marking behavior, which inspires some clever editing.

Suddenly, the situation is upbeat and viewers might feel like swaying to the music.

The footage was captured and edited by the Help Alberta Wildies Society (HAWS), which deploys motion-sensor cameras to monitor wild horse herd sizes and behaviors.

Grizzly bears share the same habitat and HAWS has published several clips showing bears trying to run down a foal or catch a fallen horse.

Click here to view one of the more dramatic chase scenes captured by a HAWS camera.

Watch: Wild horses flee with grizzly bear in hot pursuit

A trail camera in Alberta, Canada has captured footage showing a grizzly bear chasing wild horses, likely in the hope of capturing a foal.

A trail camera in Canada has captured footage of a grizzly bear chasing wild horses, likely in the hope of capturing a foal.

The accompanying footage, shared June 16 by the Help Alberta Wildies Society (HAWS), shows several horses sprinting across a creek, followed seconds later by the charging grizzly bear.

Days later, HAWS explained in another video post that the band of horses included two foals. That footage showed the horses before “the chase” and the narrator said it was not clear if the bear succeeded in its hunt.

“[A] grizzly can sustain a run at 25-28 mph for up to 2 miles,” HAWS explained. “We won’t know until our next camera run if all of this band made it.”

The nonprofit’s cameras documented a similar but more dramatic scene in May 2022. The footage (posted below) shows a head-on view of the horses running for their lives and the bear in ferocious pursuit.

After that incident, HAWS stated: “The next time someone tells you that the Wild Horses have no natural predators, send them to me. We are losing a lot of horses this year, sooner and quicker than in past years. Not just the foals. Adults also.”

–Image is a video screen grab

MORE: Can you spot the hidden animal in these 14 photos?

Wild horse definitely feeling its oats in bizarre trail-cam footage

Trail-cam footage captured in the Yukon Territory picks up mystery sound as wild horses bolt across snow.

A motion-sensor trail camera has captured footage showing wild horses bolting across snow in Canada’s Yukon Territory. But the Yukon Wildlife Cams footage also picked up a mystery sound seemingly issued by the lead horse.

However, David Troup, who monitors the cameras he positions on remote game trails, is reasonably sure he solved the mystery.

“I’m not sure what else this could be other than flatulence from the first horse on a warm winter morning,” Troup wrote on Facebook.

Add this to the many behaviors exhibited by critters as they pass Troup’s cameras.

In the past week Yukon Wildlife Cams has shared footage of grazing wood bison (a first for the cameras), a bugling elk, a lynx, and a compilation featuring appearances by a lynx, a black bear, two moose, a coyote and another black bear.

One of our favorite clips, from 2021, shows a large grizzly bear scratching its back on a tree before charging within feet of the camera, revealing its ominous bulk and massive claws.

‘Blockhead’ who posed for photo with wild horse is kicked…and cited

A woman at Cape Lookout National Seashore in North Carolina walked up and stood by a wild horse to get a photo, and then paid for it.

In the never-ending parade of tourists acting badly, a woman at Cape Lookout National Seashore in North Carolina walked up and stood by a wild horse with her hand on the animal as she posed for a photo.

It didn’t end well.

“The horse communicated its annoyance and kicked the woman,” Cape Lookout National Seashore reported on Facebook.

The national seashore reported that these visitors were cited for wildlife harassment. It posted an image of the infraction with the woman’s head blocked out.

“Why block out her face?” one commenter on Facebook stated. “She deserves to be seen. It should be part of the penalty.”

Another commenter answered, “That’s how she really looks – she’s a blockhead.”

Most of the commenters were not kind to the woman, castigating the actions and saying she deserved being kicked.

Also on FTW Outdoors: ‘Idiot’ nearly takes fatal leap in Bryce Canyon National Park (video)

“Ridiculous,” one wrote. “Do people think the banks are petting zoos?”

“What is wrong with people?!?” another wrote. “She would probably get too close to the bison in Yellowstone too! Glad she was charged and ticketed!”

The incident occurred last week. Just three weeks before, Cape Lookout National Seashore posted photo tips on Facebook, stating, “Taking a photo of our wild horses on Shackleford Banks should be done with caution. They are wild after all, and they will take action to protect themselves, their foal or their mares from what they perceive as dangerous actions by humans. For this reason, those taking photos should be about one bus length away from the horses and use a telephoto or zoom lens to take the picture.”

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Watch: Wild horses chased by grizzly bear run for their lives

A network of trail cameras in Alberta, Canada, captured an extraordinary scene recently involving wild horses running for their lives from a grizzly bear.

Trail cameras in Alberta, Canada, captured an extraordinary scene recently involving wild horses running for their lives from a grizzly bear.

In the accompanying footage, uploaded Thursday by Viral Hog, the horses charge past one camera with the bear following at full sprint, perhaps 40 yards behind. A second view picks up the chase, with the bear trying to close ground.

A young horse, perhaps the target, is in the mix. All of the animals look tired.

Viral hog stated that the grizzly bear was a mom with two cubs, and that the chase occurred May 26 in Central Alberta.

ALSO: Yellowstone wolves, grizzly bears not welcome at ‘bison funeral’; video

From the nonprofit that captured the footage: “These trail cameras are part of a large network of cameras collecting video data on the plight and mortality of Alberta’s Wild Horses, from both natural causes and large predators.

“Help Alberta Wildies Society has been conducting this research since 2014, and uses the data to promote worldwide awareness about our threatened population of Wild Horses here in Alberta, Canada.”

The Help Alberta Wildies Society (HAWS) shared the same video via Facebook. The description reads, in part:

The post generated more than 1,000 comments from people expressing emotions ranging from sadness to anger. The most extreme sentiments called for the culling of grizzly bears, which are native to the region and the focus of an ongoing population recovery effort.

Grizzly bears can run in bursts up to 40 mph. It was not clear, however, whether the bear was successful in this chase.