Spirit bears of the Great Bear Rainforest

Boss is an absolute beast of a spirit bear in the Great Bear Rainforest. This older male has been a dominate feature of a certain salmon spawning river for years. When I was chatting to the local indigenous guides about him, they estimated he is probably around 15 years of age. From the photo I snapped of him, he does look pretty intimidating and he sort of is, as he is a big male bear. A key characteristic to identify this big guy is the scar along the upper part of his snout.

However, he is no longer the biggest bear along this salmon spawning river, which means he is more vigilant and cautious of other bears when he is foraging. Lucky for us though, he has become accustomed to the presence of people along two sections of the river. The two sections have a permanent viewing structures that people stay in, as to not interfere with the animals and to protect both the bears and people. It is one of the best ways to view bears in the wild.

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