Incredible Up-Close Encounter With Alaskan Brown Bear
Drew Hamilton, a tech worker with the Alaska Department of Fish and Game, was photographing brown bears in the McNeil River State Game Sanctuary and Refuge when he captured the shot of a lifetime.
Some people would need a new pair of underwear after an encounter like this one, but Hamilton remained cool as a cucumber.
The sanctuary is home to the world's largest concentration of wild brown bears, who take advantage of the area's abundant salmon population. Toward the end of the video, as the camera swings around, you can see about a dozen bears in the river.
At least 144 individual bears have been seen in the river over the course of a single summer, and up to 74 bears were spotted during one encounter, according to the sanctuary's website.
To protect the bears as well as humans, only people who win a lottery are given permits to access the viewing area. No more than 10 people are allowed in at a time, and once at the viewing site all are confined to a small 10'x10' gravel viewing pad.
Source
VIDEO
(y) ))
CRAZY......BUT COOL
looks like on of those bear watching areas where the bears see a lot of non threatening humans. I think there is a observation platform near the falls, if this is the same place. still bears are somewhat predictable and somewhat unpredictable.
A bear's eyesight is not the best but that nose is rated tip notch. He knew who was there but chose to rest and take the short cut to the river. Kind of like a person would do. Bad bear, very bad bear. [funny, in a way]
Wow, that was amazing. I can't believe he was able to just stay there like that. It took nerves of steel. Way to go, great video!! Thank you for sharing this.