Yellowstone National Park September 2020 Grizzly boar with elk

We left the northern part of the park and headed to the Canyon area for a couple of nights. We had heard of a big boar Grizzly who had killed an injured bull elk and was still on the banks of the Yellowstone River with the kill. In nature, you have to be accepting of the fact that animals kill and eat other animals, especially when they are trying to store up calories for hibernation. It's part of the circle of life. If you're okay with that, read on. 

This Grizzly, known as bear #791, had chased down the elk and caught and killed it in the river and then dragged it to the riverbank to feed.  He actually stayed on the kill, protecting it from other predators for about 5 days. We arrived on the day after the event and we could see that the bear had partially buried the elk in dirt from the riverbank, presumably to keep the smell from attracting other predators and to preserve the meat. There were a lot of people with us on the opposite riverbank (next to the road) and a steady stream of cars slowly driving by. Since this road is part of the route from the south entrance to the center of the park, it's quite a busy road under normal circumstances. The addition of a huge grizzly fairly close to the road was the cause of a major traffic slowdown. The rangers did a good job of keeping traffic moving and also kept a pedestrian-free area of riverbank open in case the bear came across the river. 

The bear didn't seem too phased by all the attention. He slept most of the time just getting up occasionally to sit in the river and then uncovering parts of the elk to feed on. A couple of coyotes showed up at one point but they took one look at the huge bear and decide to just keep moving along. The ravens were not as intimidated by the bear and kept trying to get close enough to steal a bite. 

We stopped by a few times over the next two days just to see if there was any more activity, but things were pretty much the same - sleep, bathe in the river, eat elk, etc. I heard that some of the Wapiti wolf pack had come around a couple of days later but couldn't take the carcass from the bear. That would change on about day 7 when it was reported that #791 had left the carcass and when he returned another big grizzly had taken it (#881). They had a brief confrontation but #791 was defeated. 

It was a rare opportunity to see something like this up close without having to trek into the high country and without danger to ourselves. We felt very fortunate to have been there at the right time.