A brown bear chases down a sockeye salmon in the summer in katmai national park in Alaska.

Dash and Grab

Katmai National Park

Each summer, millions of salmon make their way from the ocean back up into the rivers and lakes of Katmai National Park and Preserve. Their goal is to journey to and spawn in the streams from which they came. Bears capitalize on this wealth of protein and fat to help get them through the long winter ahead. They employ a variety of techniques to help them take advantage of this bounty.

When salmon are concentrated, some bears use what has been termed the “dash-and-grab” method catch fish. These bears will station themselves in an area where the fish are plentiful, and at the right time will chase after a fish using their paws to pin them to the river bottom. This technique requires a substantial amount of energy, but can be very productive. Once caught, the choicest parts of the fish are eaten, before repeating the process. Bears can eat up to 40 salmon per day.

Photo © copyright by Dr. Edward Mikol.

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