| Early May on Kodiak Island. Fog drowns the lush | | | | chasing them off. |
| forest in mystery. Spattered across a black | | | | No skill is more important to a Kodiak than eating, |
| earthen floor, slushy snow melts in shadowy rings. | | | | and this activity takes up most of its waking |
| From a wooded den, a shaggy brown head | | | | hours. Although classified as a carnivore, bears are |
| appears. Unbelievable in size, the creature | | | | actually omnivorous, and eat everything from |
| emerges slowly. Ursus arctos middendorffi, | | | | grasses and berries to fish and carrion. Eating |
| Alaska's Kodiak Bear, awakes from her long | | | | patterns maximize nutritional content. Emerging |
| winter's nap. She's not alone. Snuggled close to her | | | | from their dens as early as March, bears will eat |
| massive front paws sit two cubs, the size of | | | | grass and sedges in the spring when they grow |
| stuffed Teddy bears. Together they weigh only | | | | most abundantly. They feast on fish when the |
| twenty pounds, and are hardly noticeable in | | | | salmon run begins in the summer. These months |
| comparison to their 500 pound mother. Though | | | | are crucial as bears must gain three to six pounds |
| large, the sow is lean, for she has lost 30% of | | | | of fat per day to survive hibernation. This is the |
| her body weight over the winter. Giving birth, | | | | time to catch a glimpse of the bear in the wild, as |
| nursing, and caring for her young has taken its toll, | | | | they will compete over the best fishing spots |
| and now is the season for eating. One at a time, | | | | along a stream. As the salmon supply dwindles, |
| she carries her cubs in her jaw out of the den | | | | bears turn their attention to berries, which are at |
| and sets them rolling on the forest floor. | | | | their peak as autumn approaches. If the food |
| Kodiak Island is sometimes called "Alaska's | | | | supply has not been adequate, a bear may not |
| Emerald Isle." With knobby mountains, countless | | | | hibernate. |
| waterfalls, finger lakes, and deep narrow inlets, it | | | | At about five or six years old, female Kodiaks |
| could well be called Neverland, for it is the place of | | | | begin breeding. Bears are serially monogamous, |
| fantasy. After Hawaii, it is the second largest | | | | and boars will sometimes fight over a mate, |
| island in the United States, 3,800 square miles | | | | sometimes causing serious injuries. Mating season |
| largely devoted to the vast National Wildlife | | | | peaks in June, although embryo implantation will |
| Refuge. With 117 salmon streams, 14 major | | | | not occur until the impregnated sow is denned in |
| watersheds, and less than 100 miles of road, it is | | | | November. Only if she has gained the necessary |
| the perfect place for the Kodiak Bear. | | | | weight for hibernation will the embryo implant and |
| Kodiak Bears have existed on this island for | | | | the eight week gestation begin. |
| 12,000 years. With their stream-lined noses and | | | | In response to the winter food shortage, bears |
| larger bone structure-they are the world's largest | | | | hibernate through the winter months. During this |
| bear-Kodiaks are the only scientifically recognized | | | | time they will not eat, urinate, or defecate. |
| sub-species of the Brown Bear. Separated as | | | | Astonishingly, they lose very little bone mass or |
| they are from the continent, Kodiaks have a | | | | muscle tone. But hibernating bears are not |
| smaller gene pool. But this is not the only | | | | unconscious. Although their body temperatures |
| difference. Other bears, grizzlies and browns, | | | | drop close to the surrounding temperature, bears' |
| require one or two hundred miles for survival, | | | | metabolic rates remain high. They curl up to |
| taking their food requirement into account. Here | | | | conserve heat, and may change their positions in |
| on Kodiak Island, where food is abundant, the | | | | their dens. Aroused, bears may even attack, |
| population of bears is denser than anywhere else | | | | although this is very rare. Only one person has |
| on earth. There are 0.7 bears per square mile, a | | | | been killed by a Kodiak Bear in the last 75 years. |
| total population of close to 3,000 bears on Kodiak | | | | Bear-caused injuries occur about one every other |
| and the surrounding archipelagos. Due to their | | | | year on the island. |
| close proximity, these bruins have developed a | | | | Although they are the largest predator on the |
| more diverse social structure, with large boars | | | | earth, bears are normally shy and not aggressive |
| and sows with cubs vying for dominance. Single | | | | toward humans unless provoked or afraid. With |
| subadults, aged 3 to 5 years take up the bottom | | | | their slot secure at the top of the food chain, the |
| rungs of the hierarchy. | | | | Kodiak's only natural enemy is man. Hunting on |
| For good reason bears capture the interest and | | | | Kodiak Island is only allowed under the tightest of |
| hearts of many. Bear watchers, who keep a | | | | regulations. About 5,000 resident hunters apply |
| proper distance, sometimes term these creatures | | | | per year for one of the 319 bear permits. |
| "gentle giants." Adult boars stand up to ten feet | | | | Non-residents are required to hire a professional |
| tall and weigh between 750 and 1,500 pounds. | | | | guide, an expense between $10K-$15K per hunt. |
| (Females are considerably smaller at 350-750 | | | | 160 Kodiak bears are killed each season, with |
| pounds.) They live fascinating lives, and are as | | | | 70% of them males. Otherwise, Kodiak Bears |
| unique and unpredictable as humans. Weighing less | | | | enjoy relatively long lives between 20 and 30 |
| than one pound, hairless, blind, and toothless, cubs | | | | years. |
| enter life almost as helpless as human babies. One | | | | It is not uncommon to hear a bear watcher |
| to three cubs is born in each litter, although sows | | | | speak of their quarry as if they are family. These |
| have been spotted with up to five cubs. Litter | | | | outdoorsmen may track a sow and her cubs for |
| size largely depends on the health of the mother | | | | years, and may even give them names. Some |
| and food availability. By the end of their first year | | | | consider bears our cousins, and certainly there is a |
| of life cubs weigh up to 80 pounds. For two to | | | | kinship. Perhaps it started when we squeezed our |
| four years cubs remain with their mothers, who | | | | first Teddy Bear. |
| teach them the skills needed for survival before | | | | |