Glacier Bay National Park is a great place to observe bears and their wild natural habitat. It's certainly a highlight for any visitor.
But in Glacier Bay we have two species of bears
brown bears and black bears.
How do you identify them?
Is this bear a brown bear?
Are these bears black bears?
This video will help you to tell the difference.
Bears are often seen along Glacier Bay's beaches.
Let's look at a map of Glacier Bay. Now, let's add to this map a chart that indicates where bears are seen
Brown dots represent brown bears and black dots represent black bears.
From this chart we can see that not only are bears often seem along the beaches
But that the brown bears are often seen in the upper reaches of the park and black bears are often seen in the lower part
of the park. This however is just the first step in identifying bears. Bears have several distinguishing features. Let's look at some.
Brown or grizzly bears are characterized by a broad face with a curved facial profile, a prominent shoulder hump,
longer straighter claws.
Adults are typically about three and a half feet tall at the shoulder
And they can weigh from about 500 to a thousand pounds.
Colors range from blonde and silver to brown or black.
Black bears are characterized by a narrow face with a straight facial profile, a smaller shoulder hump,
prominent ears,
shorter curved claws.
Adults are generally less than three feet tall at the shoulder.
They can weigh from 125 to over 300 pounds. Colors range from black and cinnamon to brown and gray.
Here you can see the differences in the different types of bear claws.
A coastal brown bear on the left, a smaller inland brown bear in the middle and a black bear on the right.
Black bear claws are usually dark while brown bear claws can be dark or light.
This is a typical Glacier Bay brown bear.
Brown bears are characterized by smaller ears, a broad face, and long claws.
This is a chocolate colored brown bear. Notice the large head in short ears.
This is a younger and furrier brown bear.
Sometimes the brown bears shoulder hump is not prominent in certain body positions.
Here we see younger brown bears ears may appear bigger until they're able to grow into them.
This cinnamon colored black bear frequents the park headquarters.
It is often reported as a brown bear, but he has a narrow face and a straight profile. Notice the differences.
Is this a brown bear in Gustavus?
Nope it's a black bear look at the tall ears the narrow face and the straight profile.
Here's a close-up comparison of a brown bear and a black bear.
Are you ready for a quiz? Name that species- black or brown bear.
It's a brown bear. This sub-adult has yet to grow into its ears, but it still has a broad face.
This is another brown bear. One cub has an unusual gray coloring.
Here's a black bear. Note the straight profile on the mom.
This is a brown bear cub, or a sub-adult. Note the curved facial profile.
This is a black bear, a cinnamon colored male that frequents the park headquarters.
This is another black bear, a sub-adult with a rare glacier fur color also called a blue bear.
Tracks can also be used to tell species apart.
The black bear track on the left is smaller a shorter claws and toes a curve in an arc.
The brown bear track on the right has larger long claws, toes that are almost straight across.
Hey look at that over there on the beach! See if you can spot it with your binoculars
Wow I see it, it's a bear there's a bear there's a bear on the beach!
What kind of bear is that Ranger? Well let's have a look see if we can tell.
You can see that pretty prominent shoulder hump on his back there. Let's see if we can find any other clues. Oh
Wow, look at those bright long claws as he rolls those rocks over.
Can't really see the front of his face, but based on those long claws and that big shoulder hump
I'd have to say that's a brown bear.
We hope this video will inspire you to learn more about bears and come to Glacier Bay to enjoy all that it has to offer.