Second Katmai cub killed by bear in less than a week

KATMAI NATIONAL PARK, Alaska (KTUU) - A mother bear killed a spring cub at Katmai National Park and Preserve on Sunday, the second cub slain by another bear at the park in less than a week, rangers confirmed Monday.

The death comes days after bear 806 killed and ate a cub belonging to bear 909 in an incident caught on Explore.org’s live feed, the first recorded infanticide near Brooks River. Rangers say the two events, occurring within days of each other during what they describe as a historically unprecedented season for mother bears and cubs, underscore the mounting pressures on the park’s bear population.

“I want to acknowledge that this is not an easy thing to watch, especially coming off of the heels of witnessing another cub death just last week,” park ranger Sarah Bruce said during a live Q&A session Monday on Explore.org and YouTube. “And so, it’s definitely not easy.”

What happened

The incident took place Sunday evening downstream of the Riffles platform, near what rangers call the Angler Trail, a path used by anglers, bear watchers and photographers to access the river from the Riffles platform. Bruce described the location as roughly 150 to 200 yards downstream from the falls.

Three spring cubs belonging to an unidentified mother were up in a tree when one of bear 335’s cubs climbed up to join them. The mother of the original three cubs followed her cubs up the tree and pulled 335’s cub down, significantly injuring it.

“A female went after 335’s cub, attacked it in a tree, and pulled it out, significantly injuring it,” Bruce said.

By Monday morning, rangers had located the cub’s carcass along the river, confirming it had not survived.

Park staff recovered the cub’s carcass from near the Angler Trail and relocated it to a remote area of the park, standard practice at Katmai, Bruce said, to reduce the risk of dangerous encounters with bear 335 or other bears in the vicinity.

“Dead bears along the river pose harm to not only humans in the area, but also the other bears, and it can just create really sticky situations,” Bruce said. “So, the dead bears are relocated to other areas in the park where nature can sort of take its course and all of the energy and the nutrients that that bear has goes feeds back into the ecosystem.”

The area near the incident was closed Monday and is expected to remain closed for several days. Bruce said an update on the closure would be posted to the Katmai National Park website.

Bear 335 was still in the area Monday, and rangers said she appeared to be aware her cub had died.

“She has been seen in the area still kind of huffing and looking for her cub,” Bruce said. “It’s likely that she knows her cub is dead. She’s still just kind of in that grieving process before she moves on from the area.”

Ranger Christine Loberg, who is on the ground at Brooks Camp, said the closure is also intended to give 335 space.

“The mother is possibly grieving and still continuing to look, hoping that maybe she’ll find her,” Loberg said. “We need to have the bears have their space.”

Bear 335’s remaining cubs

335, believed to be approximately six years old and a first-time mother, had three spring cubs before the incident. Rangers confirmed her two remaining cubs are alive.

“She does have two cubs,” Loberg said. “So, went from three to two.”

Bruce said she does not expect 335 to abandon her remaining cubs.

“She still has a job to do as a mom,” Bruce said. “I don’t think we’ve seen other moms who have lost a cub abandon their remaining cubs before.”

Loberg agreed, saying 335’s remaining cubs may actually help her move through the loss.

“By having those other two, she knows she doesn’t have time to slack around,” Loberg said. “She has two other mouths she has to feed plus herself and she needs to defend them and look after them.”

A historic, and increasingly tense, season

Rangers say both deaths are unfolding against the backdrop of a record-breaking year for cubs at Katmai. As of a few days before Monday’s Q&A, rangers had counted 25 spring cubs of the year at Brooks River, a figure that climbs above 30 when yearlings and two-and-a-half-year-olds are included.

Bruce said she spoke Monday with Dr. Michael Saxon, a wildlife biologist and bear biologist with the park, who told her the survival rate for spring cubs typically falls between 33 and 50 percent, depending on bear density and other factors.

The record cub numbers are a direct consequence of last year’s exceptional salmon run, rangers said. A well-fed female is more likely to carry multiple cubs to term, and can mate with several males, producing cubs from different fathers in a single litter.

“Last year, there was so much salmon,” Loberg said. “I mean, we had salmon coming in September. I couldn’t believe it.”

But this year’s salmon run is average, and the falls area has become increasingly congested as high water levels push bears away from the lower river and toward the falls, where fish congregate below a natural barrier.

“When we have over 30 cubs, in addition to the 60 to 80 regular bears that come to the falls every year, that’s a lot of bears in Brooks Camp,” Bruce said.

Loberg, who has been at the falls platform in recent days, said the concentration of bears in a small area is unlike anything she has seen.

“There’s a lot of activity going on with families at the falls platform this year,” Loberg said. “Probably more than what I’ve ever seen ever.”

Bruce said the behavior from mother bears this season, including both cub deaths, is outside what rangers typically observe.

“We typically in across the bear populations as a whole, we don’t typically see mother bears as aggressors,” Bruce said. “Typically, we see the male bears being more aggressive... I haven’t ever seen anything like this at Brooks Falls before.”

Rangers were clear that the National Park Service does not intervene in animal deaths or injuries not caused by humans.

“The Park Service typically does not intervene in situations like this in an animal death or an injury, especially if it’s not caused by humans,” Bruce said. “And this is something that we do for the protection of the resources, the protection of the bears, protection of the people, and things of that nature. Sometimes intervening in this situation can actually have really adverse effects.”

Bruce encouraged viewers who feel helpless watching the events unfold to channel that energy into their local communities.

“Nothing in nature is ever wasted even though it is really hard to watch,” she said.

The Katmai Conservancy, in a statement released Monday, said a written summary of both the 806 and 335 situations would be included in Tuesday’s newsletter for those who preferred not to watch the footage as it happened.

“We appreciate everyone’s patience as we work to bring you the most accurate information possible,” the conservancy said.

Visitors to Brooks Camp will still be able to access the park, Bruce said, though access to the area where the incident occurred will be restricted for the duration of the closure.

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