Mother elk scares black bear into climbing tree

A hungry black bear tries to catch one of the two young moose cubs but fails repeatedly due to the fierce chasing of its mother.

A resident recorded an encounter between a mother moose ( Alces alces ) and a black bear ( Ursus americanus ) near Anchorage, Alaska, USA, and shared it online on June 29. The footage shows the black bear trying to catch one of the two young moose, but is fiercely prevented by the mother and has to escape into a tree several times.

In North America, if given the chance, both black and grizzly bears can be formidable predators of ungulate calves in the spring and early summer, according to American naturalist Ethan Shaw. The calves of white-tailed deer, elk, bison, and caribou are particularly vulnerable to a hungry bear. A bear may forage in tall grasses and brush if it suspects a lone elk is there, or charge into a herd of elk in the hope that a calf has strayed behind.

While deer and elk don’t typically defend their calves vigorously against bears (though there are exceptions), moose are different. Not only are they the largest members of the deer family, they are also some of the most aggressive.

According to Shaw, angry, cornered moose are among the most undesirable animals in the northern forests and mountains of North America and Eurasia. In Alaska, they even injure more people than bears.

Bears — both the giant grizzly and the smaller black — often face a formidable challenge when it comes to eating a young moose. But sometimes the predators win. Last year, a grizzly bear in Glacier National Park, Montana, killed a young moose.

Black bears are omnivores, meaning they eat both plants and animals. Ungulates provide an extra source of energy for bears as they try to get through the hard times of spring, or when they are raising two or three cubs, Shaw said. This hunting behavior also helps keep ungulate populations in check.

Thu Thao (According to Earth Touch News )

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