A wildlife camera crew was in a bear blind (AKA hide) in Finland earlier this month when a pair of large bears showed up on the scene and decided to have a big, violent brawl just feet away from the hidden onlookers and cameras.
Samuli Kiiveri, Olli Pietilä, and Tuomas Manninen of the YouTube channel Samulin Matkassa were visiting the Boreal Wildlife Center in Kuhmo, Finland, on July 1st and camping out in a wooden shed-style blind operated by the center.
“After 45 minutes the bears started to appear, a total of four bears arrived within the 5 hours we were there,” the crew tells PetaPixel. “We would have been happy to have seen a glimpse of a single bear, but oh boy did our expectations get exceeded massively.”
Shortly after arriving on the scene, two of the large bears decided they didn’t like each other.
“Two of the bears were pretty much the same size and they started to roar very loudly to each other and moments later they engaged in a fierce brawl,” the crew says. “According to experts, they wouldn’t fight so brutally over food only. It is about the dominance of the area, because females prefer stronger males.”
Locals later told the crew that there had only been a single report of a bear fight of this magnitude in the wildlife area over the past decade and a half. Luckily for Samulin Matkassa, they were able to capture the rare sight with multiple cameras and from super close range.
“The whole scene, starting with the extremely loud roars followed up by a big fight, was an experience that left the whole film crew speechless and even confused for a while,” Samulin Matkassa says. “Truly a once-in-a-lifetime experience.”
There’s also a longer 27-minute video of the group’s time in the blind. You can also follow along with their nature, wildlife, and fishing videos by subscribing to their YouTube channel.
Author: Michael Zhang
Source: Petapixel
