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Brown Bear Diets Feast and Famine Part 2 - Fishing

10/8/2012

2 Comments

 
Picture
At an average of 4000 calories per fish stored, this is when the coastal brown bears really put on the weight, eating from 10 to 50 fish/day
When do the bears begin to eat the salmon?


The answer to this is easy, but not exact.  It's as soon as they can!  Bears seem to have an uncanny knack for knowing when the salmon begin to run and will show up within a few days, often congregating at shallow spots along the creek where it is easier for them to catch the fish.  Depending on the geographic location in either Katmai or Lake Clark National Parks, salmon may be available as early as late June or as late as August-September in other areas.  
 

How many salmon does a bear eat a day?  Do they eat the whole
thing?


The  short answer to both questions is it depends.   How many salmon they eat depends how many they can catch, and how large of a bear they are.  If the salmon are numerous and each bear can catch the number of salmon they want, they will catch somewhere between 10 and 20 a day, but large males  have been seen catching and eating as many as 50. 

Each salmon is roughly worth 4,000 calories in entirety, and 20,000 calories ingested a day is common.  In the height of a salmon run, bears  are estimated to gain from 2 to 4.5 lbs in fat a day.  That’s very important for that winter hibernation period.  If the salmon numbers are high, and the bear is skilled at catching fish (something they get better at with age), bears are known to switch to just eating the fatty parts of the fish.  Fat has twice the calories of protein, so it's possible to see a bear  just eat the brains, the skin, and the eggs if it's a female salmon.  They may lay that carcass down and then go get another.   Although you may consider that wasteful, nature won't allow it and the red mass of protein will be utilized later by less skilled  bears, cubs, or even other species such as bald eagles, gulls, magpies, or even other fish like the dolly varden that follow the salmon.

 









Picture
This sockeye will soon be consumed on the bank. Both what is left of the carcass and the bear's scat helps fertilize the surrounding vegetation with "ocean" nutrients that are very important to these ecosystems.
Picture
This large bear is skinning the just caught salmon. When the fish are really running in large numbers some good fishing bears may only eat the skin, roe (eggs), and brains. The rest does not go to waste however, and the waste is quickly devoured by less skilled fishing bears and/or eagles and trout waiting near by.

2 Comments
Gerri link
6/1/2017 02:45:48 pm

I must say when I came across this as what I am watching on Netflix and episode of The Wildlife and I came across the brown bears that was eating salmon in a question arose in my mind about how many salmon a bear brown bear eats in a day it was quite interesting when I clicked on it this app and I must say thank you and I posted it on Facebook because the world needs to see something so beautiful such as this thanks again for your share also put episodes on Netflix because these are the most interesting parts of life.

Reply
Troy Sosa link
11/29/2020 06:15:20 pm

Thanks foor this blog post

Reply



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  • Home Page
  • Alaska Brown Bear Photography/ Katmai National Park in 2018
  • Rocky Mountain Bighorn Sheep Photography 2017
  • Bio
  • Contact Us
  • Registration Forms
  • Blog
  • Gallery
    • Brown Bears from 2012 Workshop
    • Brown Bears from 2013 Workshop
    • Large Mammals (Big Game species) >
      • Mule and White Tailed Deer
      • Elk and Moose
      • Bighorn Sheep
      • Pronghorn
      • Bison
    • Waterfowl (puddle ducks)
    • waterfowl (diving ducks)
    • Bosque del Apache
    • Arizona Birds
    • Landscape Photography >
      • Grand Canyon
      • Navajo Country
      • Fall Colors
    • Arctic Tundra
    • Reptiles and Amphibians
    • South Africa and Namibia >
      • African Wild Dog - Elephants
      • Gemsbok through
      • Leopards and Lions
    • Game Birds >
      • NA Grassland Lek Species
      • Quail
      • Ptarmigan
    • Birds of Africa A - H >
      • African Birds Continued