David Attenborough’s camera crew often have to hide out in the wilderness for days to catch rare wildlife moments on camera but a woman in Canada managed to record a rare grizzly bear fight from the side of a highway.
Cari McGillivray was on the Stewart Cassiar Highway in British Columbia earlier this week when she came across the two huge grizzly bears; North American subspecies of the brown bear.
Anyone who’s seen The Revenant will know bears put up a good fight, and though Leonardo DiCaprio’s character didn’t fare too well when faced with one of the animals the opponents in this video are much more equally matched.
Check out the fight here:
Don’t normally post on here but thought I’d share this incredibly rare and amazing moment with all you guys of these grizzlies fighting! Keep a sharp eye out for the little wolf that is observing them in the distance! 🥰🐻🐺
Posted by Cari McGillivray on Friday, September 20, 2019
The two bears could be heard making some Chewbacca-like noises at each other from the side of the road before rearing up aggressively on their hind legs – and before any Star Wars fans come after me, I know Chewie isn’t a bear, but I think he makes noises like one.
The animals continued to roar as they started pushing one another and things escalated as they got caught in a headlock which probably wouldn’t look out of place in a wrestling ring.
Cari carried on filming as the bears scuffled in a grass ditch but her panic was clear when the animals turned and started to run in her direction. Though the woman appeared to be recording the footage from her car, these bears obviously weren’t in a good mood and could have easily taken their aggression out on her vehicle.
PixabayAccording to Britannica, grizzlies can run as fast as 48 km per hour (30 mph) and they have been known to attack humans without evident provocation. Thankfully, however, the bears appeared to veer off to the other side of the road before reaching Cari.
Though there wasn’t a clear winner in the fight, the animals certainly put on a good show – evident in the fact they even caught the attention of a curious wolf who stopped further down the road to take in the action.
Sharing the footage on Facebook, Cari wrote:
Don’t normally post on here but thought I’d share this incredibly rare and amazing moment with all you guys of these grizzlies fighting! Keep a sharp eye out for the little wolf that is observing them in the distance!
It’s unclear why the bears in this video were fighting but Bear Smart explains grizzlies are more likely than black bears to defend themselves when threatened. The creatures live in a dominance hierarchy based on age, size and temperament and they may establish and maintain their social position by acting aggressively.
Large adult grizzlies can stand at 2.5 metres (eight feet) tall and weigh around 410kg (900 pounds) according to Britannica, so they certainly aren’t creatures to be messed with!
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Emily Brown first began delivering important news stories aged just 13, when she launched her career with a paper round. She graduated with a BA Hons in English Language in the Media from Lancaster University, and went on to become a freelance writer and blogger. Emily contributed to The Sunday Times Travel Magazine and Student Problems before becoming a journalist at UNILAD, where she works on breaking news as well as longer form features.