The continuing fight for life of North America's bears has been captured in spectacular style in a series of dramatic pictures.

Grizzly, polar and black bears are pictured in the wilds of Alaska scavenging in bins, stripping a whale carcass and scrapping over the best fishing spots.

Photographer Steven Kazlowski has spent the past 15 years living in bear country and capturing the most intimate, hilarious and adrenaline-fuelled moments of his furry subjects.

The series by the 43-year-old also features the more fun side of the creatures.

Cubs are seen play fighting, scrapping over food and cuddling up together.

One stunning picture shows a rare blond bear wrestling a more common brown grizzly at Katmai National Park in Katmai, Alaska.


His favourites have now been compiled into a new book called Bear Country.

He said one of the highlights was capturing the blond bear on camera.

The American said: 'A blond grizzly bear is an extremely rare occurrence.


'What we see in the pictures is an even rarer-sight of a blond coloured grizzly bear interacting with a standard brown coloured grizzly bear.

'They are actually not fighting, but are playing on a huge tidal mudflat.

'This went on for several hours until the afternoon sun eventually set.


'They then went from playing to fishing for food.'

'People find it unbelievable that I have had these experiences and captured these images.

'They often cannot imagine being in that situation, and I feel my images allow a window into my experience.'


Among the other intimate moments caught on camera are a polar bear appearing to wave at the camera and a pair of male grizzlies going head-to-head as they fight for territory.

One particularly stunning picture shows a mother black bear and her two cubs walking past a glacier.

Mr Kazlowski said: 'All of these images strike a deep chord within me as they all represent a high level of nature and wildlife photography.


'Every image has a story behind it.

'The stories are explained visually in the book - with great composition, great lighting, great behaviour and action.

The most common species is the black bear, with over a million believed to survive in the wild.

Grizzly bear numbers are thought to total 200,000 and are not at risk of extinction at this time.


Polar bears, however, are endangered.

There are currently only an estimated 25,000 polar bears left in the wild as the ice they depend for hunting continues to disappear.

Nature-lover Mr Kazlowski said he wanted to release the book to reveal the softer side of the creature that is normally hidden from view.


He said: 'My message is pretty simple - it's that these animals are not cold blooded killers.

'We can peacefully coexist with bears, and enjoy a richer world with the diversity in species they offer us.

'My goal is to create awareness and promote conservation of natural environments by making striking images that connect people to places and animals.


'Telling stories like these through book projects is a basis for educating people about animals and their environments.'

Steve's book, Bear Country: North America's Grizzly, Black and Polar Bears is available in Hardback for £12, from Amazon.

To view bears in the wild, visit Steve's website at: www.lefteyepro.com
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