McNeil State Game Refuge, Alaska, Lower Mikfik Falls - 15 bears, 20 June, 2018

[@VERY_VARIOUS_VIDEOS]

Wonderful bears! Wonderful video! Thank you!

[@theinsanenews]

This video is "golden"! Truly the best of the best, thank you for sharing!

[@katanderson8594]

This video is awesome, such a beautiful place and gorgeous bears!!!!!!💕💕💕💕💕

[@gingerbread6614]

Fantastic.great shots. Thank you.

[@leesadenton6177]

Thank you, I love watching nature. BEAUTIFUL bears.♥️

[@adeelfromspain2919]

Hello leesaaaaaaa

[@user-bn4de4gi5p]

Wow, great behaviors to learn about,, they r soo adorable 😍 ❤, mom is cautious, kids r learning, so cute!!! So close other families, aĺ trying yo hunt salmon in their own lil spots... really great video!!!! Ty so much 4 sharing this...

[@dolphinfan9234]

I can't believe 91 people thumbed this video down! Amazed. This is beautiful.

[@stevendownes7907]

THIS VIDEO IS. "" GOLDEN ". THE BEST OF THE BEST ,THANK YOU FOR SHARING ....

[@heinrichschnirring1106]

R

[@nicolefama525]

I adore this footage! Amazing and thank you for sharing it ❤

[@kodiakandgrizzlybears3787]

Fantastic footage!

[@proudchristian77]

There hearing you !, your in the wild, you don't want to scare them or get them curious! 🐾💖🐾💖🐾💖😊

[@TheStormpeak]

Fantastic video. I found it fascinating. I've been considering attempting to visit McNeil before I get too old. Your video has encouraged me to give it a try next year. Thank you.

[@babyleon]

Here is a link to a series of videos I made (as a volunteer) for the State of Alaska to acquaint prospective visitors to McNeil with what they might expect. There is a lot more information on that website on how to apply for a permit in the lottery. Feel free to contact me with any questions. www.adfg.alaska.gov/index.cfm?adfg=mcneilriver.videos I hope to go again next year myself.

[@AaAa-yb4gc]

@@babyleon v

[@carolbohm9654]

So many bears. Very cool!

[@aliaqdus5135]

Wow...they look very cute... It was awesome.....

[@proudchristian77]

If it didn't occur to you sweet heart peoples , bears have sensitive hearing , & if we not quiet we can scare them or make them nervous so they can't fish as well & be hungry for it , 🐾💖

[@douglashurd8652]

Nice vidio .. too much human noise , desenitizes the bears senses working in harmony thru the river noise ..a boar could creep the cubs. Females always edgy and paranoid too .cub injuries are not an option to nervous mama grizzies .. really nice mini version of brooks falls .

[@cierakitty]

The one little one:"Mom..he's not sharing here"

[@gotacallfromvishal]

LOVE the footage thank you! i'm from canada and i'd rather safari in Afrika but this makes me wanna head up to Alaska and do a bear safari

[@jamiemonroe9236]

Wow so many how cool!! When the two started fighting. They look so cute when they stand up. Awesome footage Thanks for Sharing!

[@meredithlynn]

Amazing video,thank you

[@Nagy50Magyar]

Moma is a great fisherbear. She snatches them right out of the fast moving water.

[@kenmasters2231]

Mother bears are under some serious stress. One slip up and boom a male bear kills one of her cubs.

[@walterwendner8542]

Nice Bears 😍

[@jogarry1315]

Beautiful catch i love it

[@toshmarie3499]

At 1:42 he like "its all good mama, we got ur back, but u da best at fishing". Edit: 2:48, blondie like c'mon u gotta share. Da poor young skinny boar at 15:42 say, "naw, i aint gonna get a whoopin by 2 mama's". But he so hungry, he couldnt walk away.

[@simmstac]

Great video

[@xxxxbigrich5752]

Lovely family being intruded on.

[@mchapman1928]

They are such magnificent creatures, but oh so deadly.

[@cindylively9544]

awesome video love the bears but my god people be quiet the mothers have enough stress

[@lilahnewton7940]

It was pretty cool just watching. Where is this place? Thanks for sharing.

[@babyleon]

McNeil River State Game Sanctuary, Alaska.

[@didibolter9362]

Mrs Yogi Bear and family 😍😍😍

[@babyleon]

I would like to apologize for exposing anyone to the inane and insulting comments of one Troy Ottosen on this video. He won't be heard from on my channel in the future. Cheers!

[@user-bn4de4gi5p]

Holy cow/ bears, lol... really great video, never seen so many moms so close to each other... amazing!! Send copy to nat geo/ animal planet... great examples if natural bahaviours

[@tomlyons7891]

That's a prime fishing spot. Bears always fight over those.

[@roymanning8893]

Momma: ok kids stick by my side.

[@ivanh4600]

У медведиц не секунды покоя нет ,постоянный контроль ситуации!

[@ОльгаГлазьева-м1ч]

Смотрю в 2024 году, где они теперь 5:07

[@garthfoley2940]

I spent 4 days their 1995 a totally real experience with bears

[@theinsanenews]

18:17 they look so cute

[@j-sin3344]

It appears there is fish there, why would the mothers choose to get only one fish then bumble around the rest of the time?

[@beverleytinker2318]

I believe between the people and other bears they are under great stress.

[@racheledwards5926]

God I wanna move to Alaska

[@michaelanderson7715]

The sky-prick doesn't exist.

[@medvedilesnyduch]

🙏💓👌🐻

[@vocefazmfazderretertodoiva1464]

O urso pardo ele bonito muito forte

[@kissmycons9541]

🐻💯

[@user-bn4de4gi5p]

I hav a question... does game refuge mean hunting is allowed or not allowed on that land, in Massachusetts we have sanctuary lands, not allowed hunters, its preserved 4 wildlife..

[@babyleon]

My title here is incorrect. This clip is in the McNeil River State Game Sanctuary. No hunting or trapping of anything in the Sanctuary. Adjacent to the Sanctuary are some additional state lands - the McNeil River State Game Refuge. On those Refuge lands there is only no hunting of brown bears. But unfortunately there are enormous areas on the Alaska Peninsula (McNeil is on the Peninsula) that are open to brown bear hunting. Hundreds are killed every season, just for "sport" and the money it brings the guiding industry.

[@lindadriggs8121]

This isn't brother bear. Lol

[@macphotonatura2274]

😍🐻🐻🐻👍🙋

[@MudBuggy393]

Shut up tourists. Great video.

[@justplainbrad7713]

Are you sure the first big bear was a sow? I was starting to think transgender. Except for cubs, it would make a decent sized boar. Didn't think a hump was that pronounced on a sow. Is this an exception, or is it common? There were some big mothers at that spot [pun/int] What do you use, a hanging blind-type set-up?

[@babyleon]

Thanks for the comment. I am absolutely sure the first big bear is a female. In my experience, generally speaking there is no difference in the size of the hump between the sexes, just small differences among individuals. These are coastal brown bears and typically bigger than interior brown bears due to the type and availability of food. This was filmed out in the open, not using any kind of blind. We were just standing there in plain sight of all the bears, if they cared to notice. They are usually more concerned with other bears and with their own activities. At McNeil there is no hunting and no food-conditioning of the bears. The number of people is limited and the people always behave the same way and in a group. The bears are "neutral-conditioned" to the presence of humans, neither fearing nor being attracted to us. Access is by permit only. The permits are very limited in number and very popular, awarded through a lottery. Maximum group size is 10 people plus guide. Permits are for specific blocks of four days duration. Accommodation is camping in a designated area, with a few amenities. It is a remote area, access only by floatplane. The visitor groups go out for at least 8 hours each day but bears also wander near and by the camp at any time. In any situation, the bears have priority and the objective is to not displace them or affect their routine behavior. In my experience, this is the closest one can safely be to brown bears in a wild setting. And there are a lot of bears. This program has been in place for 51 years with no bear-related injuries. Though the guides are armed, no shots have ever been fired, warning or otherwise. The people follow the rules and the bears are bears. If this visitor season, which begins in early June, is not compromised by coronavirus restrictions, i won a June permit and will be going again.

[@Reba24u]

Be quiet lady

[@valerya4532]

:)

[@itzylo3352]

Great video but I wish people were more considered and keep their mouth shut!

[@Grammyofboys]

Do these bears also go to Brooks Falls? And visa versa?

[@babyleon]

They are certainly up to making the journey and some McNeil bears have been IDd at Brooks. And bears that were once tagged in this very spot were later killed well to the west and north of McNeil. But this location is even farther from Brooks than McNeil. I think most of these bears prefer the less competitive habitat here but that is only a guess. I was filming here the past four summers during the time when salmon would be abundant at McNeil and Brooks so I don't know what else would otherwise attract them away from this area, especially when the sedge was still productive for them here. So to answer your question, maybe?

[@jayb9687]

Annoying humans can't shut up.

[@bekirozer7811]

Alaska

[@SoniaAparecida-lf9mj]

A 9

[@slavcostojanovski4323]

A

[@user-iz9hm9lp1s]

Wish you'd silence the stupid voices.

[@babyleon]

That would be great but everyone is a narrator. That and noisy camera shutters drive me nuts but I have no control over that, unless I am alone. Not an option at McNeil.

[@douglasstreet7304]

MAMA was watching out for big males as they'd kill her cubs.