#twbeardeath

I'm assuming you are referring to the killing of 402 by 469? that was actually a very, very weird incident. i'm not sure we will ever understand why it happened. i wouldn't expect it to be food-shortage related, since it happened so late in the season, but it might've been. if it was, it didn't provide 469 very much food, because he was quickly forced off of the body by 32 Chunk.

brown bears killing other brown bears is very, very rare, so even with the lack of salmon that year, it was a very strange event. also, just as a note, 469 had been found with a bear corpse before, though we don't know how he acquired it. If he did kill that previous bear, then he might just have been particularly prone to killing other bears.

Before i begin: This is very recent and there are still many questions. Mike Fitz (who i believe is a former ranger that currently works for explore) is reviewing the footage currently.

i did not see this incident live -- i tuned in as the camera was panning away. everything i know i have gathered from comments.

what we know:

- 469 Patches attacked and killed another bear, then dragged its body off camera -- likely, he is storing and guarding it as a food cache.

- The bear that was killed is 402.

- 469 Patches' behaviour appeared predatory in nature, not defensive or dominance related

- This occurred on the KRV camera around 1pm eastern/10am pacific on september 30th.

- rangers have been informed and are finding out what they can about the situation. they have been told where 469 Patches left the camera's view and are setting up a perimeter around the area to ensure that no humans accidentally stumble upon the situation.

- According to rangers, 32 Chunk has now usurped the corpse from 469 Patches. This is expected -- Chunk is currently the most dominant bear in the area, and the body of an adult bear contains a tremendous amount of calories.

I will post official statements here as they are given.

official statement from Mike Fitz, link here

Hi everyone. As many of you know, a bear attacked and killed another in the river mouth today. There is much we don’t know. For example, I’m not sure who the deceased bear is. I need to review the footage further and talk more with park staff. We know that it was not bear 94, who was in the vicinity with her cubs when the bears engaged in the water.

I can say with certainty that the dead bear was an adult. The bear that killed the other bear is 469. He is an older adult male that was first identified in 2001. In 2012, he was also seen on the bear cams guarding a dead bear as a bear does with a food cache. We don’t know if he killed that bear, only that he was there.

This is a difficult situation to witness. We love to celebrate the success of bears with full stomachs and ample body fat, but the ferocity of bears is real. The risks they face are real. Their lives can be hard and their deaths can be painful.

When we know more information from park rangers, then we’ll share that with you. For now, though, we don’t know who the dead bear is. Naomi, Sarah, and I will discuss the situation in detail during the play-by-play tomorrow. For the next hour at least, Naomi and I will be here to answer your questions as best we can.

and in a reply, which you can find here

Good evening everyone. Tonight we witnessed another trying moment. We also witnessed the actions and reactions of a stellar mother bear and we have lots to learn from her actions. Below are Mike Fitz's considered comments after reviewing the video of what happened this evening. Thank you so much for your kind and empathetic reactions to a very difficult moment. I will post the video of the live chat we did on Monday after this comment if you want to review our analysis of the events of last Saturday

1. I didn't see it live, but I've been able to review the footage. At ~ 224pm AKT, Grazer was on the lip of the falls.

2. On the falls low cam, I could see her apparently healthy cub on the edge of the water. Then another spring cub washes over the falls.

4. The cub that washed over the falls appeared unresponsive. I do not know if it was dead or not but I saw no indication that it was or could fight the current.

3. This was almost certainly the cub that was injured by 32 Chunk on 7/29. If you want to know more please see this program:

(added note: link didn't copy over but i may add it later if i can get it to work)

5. Grazer saw the cub wash over the falls. She left the lip and searched for it in the jacuzzi (the large plunge pool below the falls).

6. Grazer retrieved the motionless cub in the water and made attempts to bring it to shallow water.

7. Grazer was then distracted by a need to corral and/or protect her other cub who remained on the near river bank.

8. When Grazer went to her healthy cub, the motionless cub drifted downstream. Grazer seemed to show some effort to look for it, but I don't know if she made contact with it again.

9. Was the cub dead when it washed over the falls? IDK. If it was still alive it could not fight the current. We know that cub was dealing with upper body injuries the last time we saw it.

9. If the cub was dead, then why would Grazer try to help it? Perhaps Grazer wasn't ready to give up. Perhaps Grazer didn't know it was dead.

10. Perhaps she felt an ursine form of loss. There is good evidence that some mammals can grieve.

11. Given the intelligence of bears, I would not discount that possibility even if it hasn't been demonstrated scientifically. Bears are thinking, emotional animals.

13. The saga and pain for the cub appears to over too. It didn't work out the way we had hoped, but at least there's comfort in knowing the conclusion to this story.