Black bear uses ‘powerful exit strategy’ when confronted by a grizzly

A grizzly bear in Glacier National Park was entertaining a group of tourists from afar when it spotted a black bear and suddenly took off running after it.

Recognizing the dangerous situation it was in, the black bear took immediate action and used a handy escape route—up a tree.

Anthony James captured video of the encounter and shared it with Glacier National Park, which put it on its Facebook page.

“Normally agreeable when food is abundant, grizzly and black bears run into one another more often when food is scarce—like early summer,” Glacier National Park wrote.

“While grizzly bears are larger and typically stronger than black bears, this black bear displays its powerful exit strategy: climbing!

“The short, sharp claws of the black bear are ideal for tree climbing. The grizzly’s longer, duller claws are great for digging, but poor for climbing—especially because an adult grizzly is substantially heavier than a black bear.”

Clearly, the grizzly had set its sights on making the black bear a meal.

In 2013, Steve Michel, a human-wildlife conflict specialist with Banff National Park, cited five instances when a grizzly has hunted, killed and eaten a black bear in Banff, according to an article by the CBC.

“It may not be as rare as we think it is,” he told CBC. “But it is rare that we actually are able to document it. We tend not to know about it at all…

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“Grizzly bears are opportunistic hunters. They will take advantage of any food source that presents itself.”

The black bear in this case escaped up a tree.

However, it was not known what happened once the video ended. We can only assume the grizzly moved on and a relieved black bear came down from the tree and lived happily ever after.

Photo of generic black bear from Clip Art Library.