Why do the most sociable bears in the world live in Kamchatka (14 photos)

Did you know why you should never feed wild bears? Once they taste human food, they become obsessed with it.





Igor Shpilenok is one of the world's most famous wildlife photographers. He spent almost his entire life in the forest. Back in the 1980s, when he was not even 30, he became the founder of the Bryansk Forest nature reserve. Then he became interested in photographing animals. He recently shared stories about foxes, and now he will delight fans of bears.

Dark Soul of the Forest



At first glance, it seems that bears are less emotional than other animals. These are not manul cats with their dissatisfied look, or cunning foxes looking for something else to steal from a person. “The bear is the dark soul of the forest,” Igor Shpilenok quotes Soviet writer Nikolai Sladkov. - Their facial muscles are not developed and they cannot smile like dogs. When you approach a bear, you look not at its face, but at its ears and its posture. They can be different, for example, the submissive position appears when the dominant approaches, and everyone who is smaller sits in this position. A dog has a similar behavior when its owner yells at it.”

Bears generally have a strict hierarchy, where a lot is determined by size, says the photographer. “A person can’t always hit it with its size. But it can also deceive.”



“When I work with bears, I wear a life jacket under a loose jacket. Sometimes I put rolled up travel foam in an empty backpack. All the bears in the area run away, thinking that this is some kind of muscular hump. It doesn’t even occur to them to check whether he is real or not.”



“Self-confidence also means a lot. He looks at you and looks whether you will give in or not. In real life, a smaller animal is inferior to a larger one, but you can take it with impudence, especially using some unexpected techniques. For example, suddenly opening your jacket, that is, in front of the bear’s eyes, sharply increasing in size. This always surprises them - sometimes, even bear illness happens,” says Igor.

Why does a bear need a camera?



One day, a bear stole people’s camera into the lake, which upset them greatly. And after that they came up with the idea of ​​​​giving the bears the opportunity to film themselves, since they like the technology so much. “We contacted GoPro and they sent us 10 action cameras with selfie sticks,” says the photographer. “The bears began to take them and carry them with them, filming themselves and others.” Not everything was returned back.

“It turned out that they can take pictures, but they don’t know how to level the horizon. Everything is either upside down or sideways. And they are wonderful video operators, they shot such shots that a person could not do.”

Blondes among bears



The brown bear is only called brown, and its color can range from light straw to dark brown. Sometimes you think that the bear is light-colored, but he was just bleached by the sun.



“Bears come out into the April sun in Kamchatka - there is snow everywhere, and they walk on this snow, and their eyes water from sunburn, they squint all the time. A person will put on sunglasses, but bears do not have such an opportunity. And the eyes deteriorate, and the fur fades. And then they molt and become dark again. And you look like that! “I myself lost five shirts over the summer.”

The happiest bears



Why is Kamchatka so tempting for bear photographers? There are large reserves here, where no one chases them, neither poachers nor hunters. And they also have access to food all year round - it happens that they don’t even hibernate.



“The happiest bears in the world live in Kamchatka! - says Igor Shpilenok. - There is plenty of food, there are nuts, berries, and salmon. Bears do not spend much time on their basic needs; they have time for communication. The most social and most playful bears here are even the adults.”



“The highest density of bears in the world is the South Kamchatka Nature Reserve, in the center of which is Kuril Lake. There are about two thousand of them in a relatively small area. But there is a different phenomenon there - many of these bears have learned to live next to people, and they are not at all afraid of them, as in other places. That’s why it’s convenient to watch them there.” But they also care about people.

Please don't feed the bears!



There are no other ways to travel on foot in the reserve except along bear trails. And the safest thing for people is to walk in groups and talk loudly, sing songs. “If a bear approaches, we all need to stand up together, hold hands, make noise so that he understands that this is one big organism.”



The main thing is that the bear does not understand that a person has food, because after trying it, he will look for similar things in the future. In the Kronotsky Nature Reserve in Kamchatka, even the crumbs that remain after tourists’ lunch must either be burned or thrown into the water. All food should be stored away from the camp. “Human high-calorie food is unbearably attractive to them. Their eyesight may not be great, but their sense of smell is excellent. They feel food that is even in a tin can.”



“Now many people are criminally feeding bears from cars. A person feels safe in a car, but a bear, in search of food, then rushes towards a group on foot. And the fate of such bears is always bad - they are shot. Therefore, if someone has the idea of ​​feeding a bear, he must understand that he is killing it.”