Bear Sounds

Two grizzly bears resting in the sunshine in Denali National Park

NPS Photo

Explore our sound gallery and listen to some of the bear sounds captured in parks by the NPS natural sounds team, made up of park staff and the Natural Sounds and Night Skies Division.

In an effort to protect the natural and cultural sounds in our national parks, the National Park Service takes part in sound monitoring efforts to learn about the sounds of the natural environment as a whole. The sounds below were captured by chance during these inventories. Unfortunately, because we don't have video to go with the audio, and because we were not at the sites when the recordings were made, we can not always be certain what the bear was doing.

Denali National Park

• "Hey Bear!" call (0:15) Hikers use calls such as these to alert bears that they are in the area.
• Bear with cubs (0:33)

Great Smoky Mountains National Park

• Bear vocalization (0:07)

North Cascades National Park

• Bear moving and grunting (0:19)
• Bear running past the sound monitoring equipment (0:17)
• Bear sniffing near the sound monitoring equipment (0:11)

Gates of the Arctic National Park and Preserve

• Bear investigates the sound monitoring equipment (2:34)

Yosemite National Park

• Bear exploring sound equipment (0:09)
• Mystery sample believed to be a bear (0:09)