Social media users were wowed by a repost of a huge carnivore roaming the frozen wilderness of northern Canada.
The trail camera footage, initially taken in 2021, was reposted by Yukon Wildlife Cams on Facebook. It shows a hefty, snow-covered grizzly bear treating the viewer to an extreme close-up as it looks right into the camera. The caption offers a little more context about the striking footage:
"Although I've shared this before, I'm guessing a lot of you have never seen this awesome snow-covered grizzly after a late September snowfall in 2021," the post read.
Yukon is home to as many as 7,000 grizzly bears. A grizzly bear is a type of brown bear that's smaller and lives further inland than its coastal cousins. Their smaller stature is due to their diets, which rely more on roots, berries, and small prey. They play a key role in the ecosystem as predators and foragers. They keep prey populations under control, and the bear's nutrient-dense scat is key to a healthy forest.
They are considered "vulnerable" in Yukon due to habitat loss and conflict with people. Grizzlies are also threatened by warming global temperatures driven by human activity, disrupting their food supply. For example, the calorie-rich seeds of whitebark pine, which they need to fatten up in the fall, are under threat, according to a study by the University of Colorado.
Because they only reproduce every three or four years after age eight, any recovery to their numbers will take time.
One of the biggest challenges that the province's conservation plan faces is the difficulty of tracking grizzly numbers. That's where trail cameras can provide an invaluable service.
Cameras can make for an unobtrusive and cost-effective method for monitoring threatened wildlife. Additionally, they can play a key part in raising public awareness and support for conservation measures.
As the comments to the clip showed, viewers were delighted with the footage.
"Makes my heart race," one comment read.
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Definitely 👍 Another joked, "All fattened up for the winter and ready for bed … just like me."
"Wow he really bulked up for his long winter's nap," a viewer noted. Though strictly speaking, bears enter torpor status for the winter, a lighter sleep where they will occasionally wake up to forage.
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