Bonding Before Breakfast

Sockeye salmon gently brushed against the sides of my legs as I stood knee-deep in Brooks River. The clouds overhead dispersed and the morning warmed as patches of sunlight reached the grass growing along the river's edge. Social behavior in bears is commonly believed to only exist between mothers and their cubs but, when food is as abundant as it is in Katmai National Park and Preserve during the late summer and early fall months, subadult and adult bears can often be seen playing. It is debated whether or not this behavior establishes social bonds with other bears or is simply a way for bears to prepare for more perilous duels. These companions, after knocking each other to the ground and growling as they rolled around in the damp grass, seemed to embrace as they stopped to catch their breaths.