Photographer Films Epic and Intense Fight Between Two Huge Brown Bears
A photographer filmed the moment that two giant brown bears squared off in a fierce and intense brawl last month.
Wildlife photographer Derek Yoder captured the incredible fight between the pair of brown bears on Vancouver Island in British Columbia, Canada on May 24.
In the video, which was first reported by Field and Stream, a brown bear boar charges at another bear before letting out roars and engaging in a fearsome brawl.
As the animals furiously attempt to gain an advantage, one bear hurls his opponent to the ground — before pinning and biting down on it while they battle in the water.
Yoder is currently based in Grand Lake, Colorado. But he captured the footage of the bear brawl when he was on a five-day trip to Vancouver Island with his wife Courtney Arndt, who is also a wildlife photographer.
Before the brawl, Yoder tells PetaPixel that bear, that was eventually triumphant, had begun “displaying aggressive and intimidating behavior, such as teeth clicking, pushing his legs into the ground, and even wrestling a low hanging tree branch” when the other animal approached.
“It seemed he was trying to tell the other bear he was in charge here,” the photographer adds.
‘An Incredible Rush’
The photographer began getting amped up when he realized that the two brown bears may start brawling — something he had never witnessed as a wildlife photographer.
“I started getting really excited when they were approaching each other, suspecting we might see something exciting,” Yoder, who shot the video on an Olympus OM-D E-M1 Mark III and a 300mm Pro lens, says.
“I’ve never seen or filmed a bear fight before this. I really wanted to lean into the excitement of the moment but calmed my nerves so my video would not be as shaky.
“I still had to overlay the audio part way through the video because I was so excited I didn’t realize I was breathing rather loud and obnoxiously — which made it into the recording I was shooting through the viewfinder right next to the microphone.
“When the fight ended I was still very excited, realizing the rarity of what we got to see and feeling extremely fortunate to have arrived when we did. It was an incredible rush!”
The photographer says that the winning bear looked exhausted after the brawl and breathed heavily for several minutes before laying down to rest.
More information about Derek Yoder’s work can be found on Instagram.
Image credits: All photos by Derek Yoder.
