The King is BACK!!

The King is BACK!!

Figured we had to keep the reflection theme going! This one is for Billy Boy and others waiting to hear about a certain bear that spends his spring in the Khutzeymateen - others can just skip way down for the tech stuff!

Each year 200 or fewer very fortunate members of the public gain full legal entry into the heart of one of the world's best places to view (and photograph) grizzly bears - the Estuary of the Khutzeymateen Grizzly Sanctuary. Over the last 15-or-so years a good number of these visitors likely saw a bear that has become almost legendary - the dominant male of the valley...and the one who has done the lion's share of breeding in that region. Some call this bear "Brutus", others call him "The Big Guy" - and he IS simply the King of the Khutzeymateen. He's absolutely huge. How big? Well, like all bears in the Khutzeymateen he has never been captured, radio-collared, or tagged - nor has he volunteered to step on a scale. Despite what some think, bear weights are notoriously difficult to estimate in the field - Brutus may weigh as little as 400 kg (or 900 lb) in the spring and perhaps as much as 550 kg (over 1200 lb) in the autumn. Or perhaps 100 kg or so more. But when he stands in the same field of view as a human, he looks absolutely massive - almost as big as a VW Beetle!

How old is Brutus? Like with his weight, no one knows for sure. Old-timers who have worked the area far longer than I have been seeing him for over two decades - and they estimate his age at between 27 and 30 years. He's proudly shown his "male-pattern baldness" for at least 15 years - and now a lot of other younger males in the region - presumably his descendants - (and even a few of the females) sport the same 'do.

Brutus is anything but tame, but he is pretty much indifferent to humans - and normally passes by them on land (with his forceful and purposeful stride) or water without bothering to give them a second glance. When this happens it's almost insulting - as tho' we tiny humans aren't even worth a smidgen of attention!

In the spring of 2012 we saw Brutus, but only rarely. And we saw what we sadly thought was a king nearing the end of his reign. His normally resplendent coat was patchy and almost "mangy", his left eye was badly infected, and he seemed listless and almost pathetic. Later in the spring he was limping and wheezing and almost dragging himself around. While everyone and everybear must die eventually, it hurt to see Brutus struggling so, and we assumed this was the last time we would see him.

Fast-forward to 2013. For the month of May there had been nary a sighting of The Big Guy. Then, on the morning of May 29, and about a kilometer or two up from the estuary, we spotted an obviously big bear swimming across the Khutzeymateen Inlet. We cruised over towards him in a Zodiac and I glassed him with my binocs from about a distance of about 400m. I immediately noticed he was swimming with his muzzle submerged part of the time - something Brutus always did. And then he raised his head and I clearly saw the inverted "V" on his head and instantly knew this was no pretender - the real King was BACK! I looked over at our long-time bear guide and nodded - and we both smiled. Amazing what a 4- or 5-month nap will do for one!

We followed Brutus as he alternated swimming and walking up the inlet towards the estuary. Each time he climbed out of the water we could see he was in fantastic shape - his coat was full, his slicked-down wet coat revealed his rippling muscles, and his stride was purposeful and determined. He was returning to claim the breeding rights to ANY receptive female in the estuary and lesser males had two choices - clear out or pay the price!

A very low tide prevented us from entering the estuary right then to watch Brutus take charge. But a few hours later we saw Brutus striding OUT of the estuary on the opposite side of the inlet. Why? Well, he certainly wasn't chased out by any other males challenging him, but in the spring of 2013 there were fewer females in breeding condition around (the females there mostly had cubs and, in fear of what he might do to their cubs, wanted NOTHING to do with The Big Guy). When we were able to access the estuary that evening it was oddly quiet (and remained so for a few days) - all the sub-adult males and smaller adult males had cleared out and, even with Brutus gone, would stay away for at least a few days.

Even though Brutus impacted negatively on our bear-viewing in the Khutzeymateen Estuary for a short while, it was more special than ever to see him again in the spring of 2013. Interestingly, our bear guide (who is even less of a spring chicken than I am) seemed absolutely energized when he saw that the aging King had returned to his former glory and stature. Hopes of reversed anthropomorphism perhaps? ;-)

Later Brutus - see you in 2014?

Subject: Ruling King of the Khutzeymateen swimming the inlet
Location:Khutzeymateen Inlet, BC, Canada
Camera: Nikon D4
Lens: Nikkor 400mm f2.8 VR - hand-held from floating zodiac. VR on and in "Normal" mode.
Exposure: 1/500s @ f8; ISO 500. -0.67 compensation compensation from matrix-metered exposure setting.
Crop: None - this is full frame

Like almost always, additional info about this shot (including processing info) on my website Just go here...

http://www.naturalart.ca/galleries/latest/.

Comments and critiques welcomed - probably best to view the larger version prior to doing so!

Cheers...

Brad