Tongass National Forest

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"Lions and Tigers and Bears, Oh My!"

Spring is the time the largest carnivores in the forest shake off the sleep of winter and take up their active lives again for another season. Alaskan "brownies" may begin to emerge from their winter dens in late March, depending on spring snow conditions, and continue to appear well into June. Males are the first to emerge, followed by single females, females with older cubs, and finally females with newborn cubs.

For the first week or so out of hibernation, they may not eat at all, partly because they are so sluggish and partly because the ground is often still snow-covered. As the bears' metabolism gets back to normal, they begin to wander away. Females with newborn cubs usually hang around and sleep in the den for several more weeks.

For all bears, departure from the den signals the start of eating. In the next four to eight months they must build up enough fat to carry them through the next winter. They may gain up to 40 percent of their weight prior to denning - a 400-pound (180 kg) bear may gain up to 160 pounds (72.5 kg)!

Alaska is bear country! The population of brown bears in Alaska is estimated at 32,000 to 43,000 individuals. This compares with a total population of less than 1,000 in all the rest of the country. Admiralty Island, in Southeast Alaska, is home to over 1,500 brown bear, almost one per square mile, which gives it among the densest concentrations of brown bears in the world.

In spring and early summer, Admiralty Island bears move from their higher elevation dens down to beaches and tide flats to feed on new vegetation, scavenge on winter-killed deer carcasses, prey on newborn fawns, and feed on eggs deposited by spawning herring on intertidal beds of seaweed.

As bears have a relatively inefficient carnivore digestive system and are only active part of the year, they're forced to exploit the most productive feeding sites available, such as salmon streams, berry patches, and tideflat meadows full of tasty sedges and beach lovage. This brings them down from the upper elevations to lower elevations following newly emergent vegetation in early summer and to salmon streams in time for the mid-summer fish runs. Peak times for the salmon delicatessen is during July and August.

At Pack Creek, on Admiralty Island, the short chum (dog) salmon run occurs from early to late July. By mid-July, the first pink (humpback) salmon enter Pack Creek and spawn through late August or early September. Spawning - and bears - occur in the lowest 5/8 mile (1 km) of the creek. July and August are the peak months for bear activity at Anan Creek on the mainland south of Wrangell. Both black and brown bears dine on the plentiful salmon returning to the creek each year.

Bears are great individualists when it comes to fishing for salmon. Some bears are very patient, standing quietly in shallow eddies. Others are aggressive fishermen, running up and down the stream or even diving into the water with marginal results. A few bears will swim around underwater and suddenly appear with a fish! Some simply steal from other bears or scavenge partly eaten salmon carcasses.

As colder temperatures arrive and food sources dwindle, bears begin to find dens. Pregnant females, followed by females with cubs, are the first to enter fall dens, usually during the first two weeks of October. Single females den next, followed by males. By the first week of November, over 90 percent of the bears have returned to their long winter's nap.