Standing up for a reward of grape jelly is only one of over 50 commands Ruth LaBarge's trained bear, Barney knows. 'They're so intelligent,' she says of both Barney and her other bears she trains for the entertainment industry. LaBarge's dream is…
Separated by only an electric fence, this boy scout can't help but be impressed by Whopper the trained bear. Whopper's trainer, Ruth LaBarge, gives commands from a distance, rewarding him with marshmallows as he completes commands. The bear was…
Karelian bear dogs from the Wind River Institute sniff the body of a problem bear from Montana, killed after breaking into one home too many. The dogs are fearless, trained by the institute to bark and chase bears away from areas occupied by people.…
Max Tylee is still recovering from his wounds after having his head bitten by a startled bear in British Columbia. Grizzlies killed only one person last year in all of North America, and encounters with humans often end up worse for the bear. …
A mother watches her cub as it tries to climb in with her for dinner in a trash bin. A continuing problem in the Prudhoe Bay area of Alaska, bears feed on garbage left behind by oil crews living at the area's drilling and refining sites. While food…
With the speed of a racehorse, a female grizzly chases down a bison calf in the Hayden Valley of Yellowstone National Park in a situation never before photographed. The calf's mother, close behind, could not save her young, but the meat from the…
Though plenty of land has been set aside for wildlife in Alaska, bears in the lower 48 states aren't faring as well. A young bear taking a stroll along the edge of Katmai Lake in coastal Alaska seems a world away from the rest of the United States…
Finding a salmon in the dark is even trickier than catching one in a waterfall. This bear's technique is to feel salmon with its feet, pin them underneath, and then go bobbing for them in the Kulik River of coastal Alaska.
When not in hibernation, the majority of a bear's time is spent searching for food. When the food happens to be a moving target, bears with the best reflexes will be able to store enough fat to make it through the following winter. A perfect…
Brody the trained bear pretends to be furious for his trainer, Jeff Watson. One of several bears used in the entertainment industry, Brody performs many commands including fake roars and fake maulings, the two most-requested tricks. Humans have…