The Nursery in the Grizzly Sanctuary
As the sometimes long and brutal Alaskan winter fades into the jagged high mountains the deep snow soon begins to melt and spring
begins to flourish in the lower elevations. The warming sun brings forth huge fields of green sedge grass. Miles upon miles of plush green grass spreads throughout the valley floor. This changing of seasons signals many brown bear sows to bring forth their new furry cubs and converge on the pastures of the Grizzly Sanctuary.

Sow and cub resting in the meadows

A cub beginning to nurse

At mom's side during clam digging

Without a doubt there is no better place to photograph truly wild Alaskan brown bear sows and cubs than here on the Grizzly Sanctuary. For thousands of years without man's intervention this remote land has provided ideal circumstances for the sow to raise her cubs into adulthood. A variety and ample food sources can readily be found. The sows easily breed. there is safety and denning in this wilderness environment almost guaranteeing a continuing healthy population.

A stroll with mom to the fishing hole

Eating greens in the meadows

This is a photographers dream location. It is very common to watch several sows and their cubs walk, play and nurse throughout the sanctuary. Please use your long lens, listen to your guide and pay close attention to the signals the sow is displaying. Never get to close! In late May and through out June and into middle July you will have many opportunities to photograph these playful critters in the meadows, digging for clams along with their mothers or even sharing a salmon near the rivers.