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2 young brown bear cubs, standing in the river waiting for mom to return with dinner. Katmai National Park, Alaska. (ursus Arctos) |
The grizzly bear cubs arrived with some lunch, Katmai National Park, Alaska. (Ursus Arctos) |
I couldn't resist adding this shot to the page .. the open mouth says it all! (Ursus Arctos) |
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2 young spring cubs patiently await their mother's return. (Ursus Arctos) |
The warm sweet light of dawn kisses the back and shoulders of a young grizzly bear cub. (Ursus Arctos) |
This small cub curiously casts his gaze my way as he grazes on some lush grasses. Alaska. (Ursus Arctos) |
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The intense gaze of a 2 year old cub. (Ursus Arctos) |
This subadult grizzly bear keeps his eye on me as he approaches, Katmai national Park, Alaska. (Ursus Arctos) |
The raised paw of this bear's approach gives this picture extra intensity, Katmai National Park, Alaska. (Ursus Arctos) |
The bear stood on this small rock trying to get a better view of me. One of the prettiest bears I've seen. (Ursus Arctos) |
I caught this image of this nearly full grown boar as he raised his head whilst eating a salmon. (Ursus Arctos) |
Warm evening light soaks on the river as this brown bear searches for supper! (Ursus Arctos) |
Another photograph of an absolutely beautiful bear - a gorgeous specimen. (Ursus Arctos) |
Just as I hoped this grizzly bear would give me a look, he obliged, and I gladly fired the shutter. (Ursus Arctos) |
Some biologists speculate that play is a sign of a higher intelligence amongst animals, and bears are certainly some of the most playful of critters. (Ursus Arctos) |
These 2 bears, nearly full grown adults, were constantly play fighting, and I was fortunate to take many images of them. (Ursus Arctos) |
Photography is largely about light, and the light here was wonderful. Grizzly bear, Alaska. (Ursus Arctos) |
I shot a number of compositions of this young brown bear, and she obliged with different poses. (Ursus Arctos) |
A grizzly in the forest is not a commonly seen photograph, and I'm very proud of this image. Alaska. (Ursus Arctos) |
Looking through the viewfinder, I was in awe of the power held in this wonderful animals intense stare. Alaska. (Ursus Arctos) |
The same young bear towering over the rock to look at me gave me this photo after he caught a salmon. Alaska. (Ursus Arctos) |
A tighter image of a brown bear feeding on a freshly caught red, or sockeye, salmon. (Ursus Arctos) |
Easily the largest bear I have ever seen. This boar, at full weight, must be close to 1500 lbs. Katmai National Park, Alaska. (Ursus Arctos) |
The soft colors of dawn begin to cast a warm glow over the lake as this silhouetted brown bear stands, gazing over the water. Alaska. (Ursus Arctos) |
The same 2 bears caught playing above, continued their games most of the week.Alaska. (Ursus Arctos) |
A large boar with a fresh silver salmon held firmly between his teeth, Katmai National Park, Alaska. (Ursus Arctos) |
One more image of this magnificent young brown bear, Alaska. (Ursus Arctos |
I often take different compositions of the same scene/subject, as they can hold a very different mood or 'feel', simply by moving the camera a few inches, or, in this case, rotating to a horizontal framing. (Ursus Arctos) |
The same incredible boar captured earlier, here he looks my way as he relaxes in the frothy water of the rapid. (Ursus Arctos) |
An image that I had envisioned a earlier, and spent many hours planning and waiting for it to happen. Grizzly bear on ridge, Alaska. (Ursus Arctos) |
Black bear, waking from a nap, Smoky Mountains, TN. (Ursus Americanus) |
Black bear foraging in the forest, Great Smoky Mountains National Park, TN. (Ursus Americanus) |
Black bear cub, in a field, Cades Cove, Great Smoky Mountains NP, Tennessee. (Ursus Americanus) |
Black bear portrait, headshot taken on the edge of the forest. (Ursus Americanus) |
This is the same boar black bear in the image above, waking in the forest. here, late in the day, he's scratching himself on the forest's edge. (Ursus Americanus) |
A young cub from Katmai, taken on the final afternoon of my 7 day trip. (Ursus Arctos) |
I was fortunate to witness this scene in Denali NP, Alaska, this fall. The caribou bull had been taken down by a wolf pack. After they fed, this family of bears took over the kill. I (as always seems to happen) missed the wolves! :) (Ursus Arctos) |
A grizzly bear prowling the tundra, late evening light, Denali NP, Alaska. (Ursus Arctos) |
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"The Grizzly walks: there is a dignity, a lordliness of carriage, and an indifference to all the world that impress themselves on the attention.Some one speaks quietly to him:he halts, stands on hind legs, and shows a childlike eagerness of interest in his expressive face. His attitude and responsiveness are most companionable and never fail to wake the best in everyone who sees him in these moments." -- Enos Mills, "The Grizzly". In the fall of 2004 I returned again to Katmai National Park, Alaska, the greatest place in the world to photograph and view the great Alaskan brown or coastal bear. I worked different locations, and took different approaches to the shoot this time. Fortunately, the bears and the weather largely co-operated, and I was rewarded with a very successful shoot. I couldn't have been happier with many of the photos I returned with. I've also included a few images here not taken at Katmai. Some of the grizzly bear images are from Denali National Park, Alaska, and the black bear images were taken in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, TN. Wild bears can live up to 30 years of age, but typically competition for food and territory is such that their lifespan is much shorter. Weighing less than a pound at birth, the tiny grizzly cubs grow rapidly, emerging from their dens in May or June weighing as much as 15-20 pounds. 2 or 3 cubs is the normal little for a sow, but sows have been observed with up to 5 or 6 cubs in tow, most likely a result of a natural adoption process. Cubs typically stay with their mother for 3 years, before she drives them away. These juvenile bears, 3-5 years old, have a high mortality rate, predation by adult males being the common cause of death. Grizzly bears become sexually mature at 5 years of age, and can continue to reproduce throughout their life. 4 years is the average span between litters. Known as brown bears, by Alaskan locals, the coastal grizzly bear and the it's smaller cousin in the interior vary in color from a creamy blonde to a deep rich chocolate brown, nearly black. Usually, the high protein diet of the coastal bears will give them the nutrition to produce a richer, darker, coat. Similarily, black bears come in a wide variety of colors: Jet black to cinnamon, a steel blue (known as Glacier bears), rust and tan colored bears are common as well. A cousin of the black bear is the Kermode, or 'Spirit' bear of the Pacific Northwest, of which I've only ever seen one. As a result of these color variations, it can often be difficult to distinguish a black bear from a grizzly. Features to look for are the tell tale shoulder hump of the grizzly, his slightly dished, concave face (as opposed to the longer straight or convex snout of the black bear), less prominent ears, and the long claws of the grizzlies' forepaws. Both grizzly and black bears occupy a wide variety of habitat: dense forest, high mountain alpine and open tundra. Grizzly bears were found on the Great Plains of the American midwest prior to the arrival of European settlers, but have long since been eradicated. Available food source is a driving factor in the size and density of bear populations in the wild. Bears, both black and brown, are omnivores, and eat a large variety of berries, grasses, roots, bulbs, sedges, nuts, acorns, insects (particularly ants), and fish, as well as small mammals such as ground squirrels, and marmots, and, when available, larger mammals such as deer, caribou, moose, elk, etc. In some places, grizzly and black bears have proven to be a major factor in the populations of moose, elk and caribou, preying heavily on the young of the species. Bears will also eat carrion. Bears, both grizzly and black, require a substantial territory to survive, and eradication of their natural habitat by man has been devastating to their populations. Female black bears require an area of 1 to 15 square miles, and the males often have a larger territory. Grizzly bear territories tend to be larger, from 15-30 square miles, in places such as interior Alaska. In places where food sources are more plentiful, such as the coastal areas, bear population densities may be as high as one bear per square mile. On the other hand, regions like the North Slope of the Brooks Range in Alaska's arctic North are so barren and harsh that bears may require as many as 300 square miles to survive. These figures are averages, and bears territories will often overlap one another. Squabbles tend to occur when bears are in close proximity to one another, and bears have been observed to fight and kill other bears in areas as sparce as the Arctic tundra. Grizzly bears are a major predator on black bears, and black bears tend to keep their distance as much as possible. These images are all of wild subjects, in their natural environment. Each photo is available for stock use, and photographic prints, screensavers, note cards or calendars are also available. To order any of these pictures, or for complete stock photo lists, drop an email.
This gallery of images is a collection of photographs taken by Carl Donohue. All images on this site remain the property of Carl Donohue Photography, and are fully protected by federal and international copyright laws. Any unauthorized use is strictly prohibited, and any reproduction copying, manipulation, alteration, saving or distribution of these images will be prosecuted to the full extent of the law. All images are available for licensed use; to do so, please contact Carl at carl@alaskanalpinetreks.com or phone # (770) 952 4549. Thank you. |
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