12/26/2023 0 Comments Do bears hibernate“And that’s an important thing as a manager to know and certainly an important thing to know as a resident of the island.” “So, there are bears out and about on Kodiak Island year round,” he said. About 30% of the Kodiak male bear population don’t den at all, according to Nate Svoboda, the state’s area management biologist with Fish and Game. “They just use basically what’s in their backyard.”īy late November and into early December, they head into their dens for hibernation - but not all of them. “The bears on the north end of the island don’t go down to the south end to go fishing,” he said. And they’ll generally stay within one or two drainages looking for food. Van Daele said Kodiak bears don’t have to fight over food and territory like other brown bears, thanks to Kodiak’s expansive habitat and food sources. And they’re generally less aggressive than grizzlies, their Interior relatives. They’re the largest species of brown bear in the world. There are more than 3,000 bears on Kodiak and the surrounding islands. Most Kodiak bears hibernate during winter, but about 30% of males continue foraging for food year round. “And they’ve stayed out longer than usual on the salmon streams because the silver salmon are running real late.” “And it’s an opportunistic thing as well because we have a group of bears here on the road system, especially this year, that are real tolerant of people,” he said. Van Daele said the last time the ice bears were out was four or five years ago. Larry Van Daele was the bear biologist on Kodiak Island for 34 years and most recently served on the Board of Game. “And ice bears are kind of unique and exciting to see.” “Mixed all together, we had bears that we could see that were actively fishing, and they would be covered in ice,” said Fogle Smith. They’re harder to come by in the winter, but this year was special - thanks to an earlier than usual snowfall and frigid November temperatures. And then she played with it for a little while and then she sauntered down the beach.” And she picked it up, and then she caught it, and then she threw it up in the air again and caught it fully extended. “And she had a beautiful, brilliant red salmon. “This last year I had a beautiful ,sub-adult female, who was very athletic, was an acrobat,” she said. She’s been documenting the island’s bears for over 20 years - and she has some stories. Jennifer Fogle Smith is a wildlife photographer in Kodiak. A Kodiak “ice bear” during a recent snowfall.
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