It’s not easy being one of the most envied female Grizzly Bears in the Khutzeymateen, and this one knows exactly how that feels. Over the five days I spent photographing Grizzly Bears in the Khutzeymateen, she had several males approach her to mate. When this image was taken she was actually being pursued by one Grizzly Bear, with another one off to the side watching it all unfold, and hoping he might get a chance with her as well.

In 2015 there was certainly no shortage of mating in the Khutzeymateen, and I’m really hoping I will get the opportunity to see the results of all this mating when I visit the sanctuary in 2017. The females will often not bring the cubs of the year into the sanctuary because of the large male bears, it is too risky for them to do so. Therefore, we need to wait until they are one year old (or sometimes older) before we get the chance to see if all the mating efforts were successful.
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Taken: May 29, 2015
Location: Khutzeymateen Grizzly Bear Sanctuary, British Columbia

Camera: Canon EOS 7D Mark II
Lens: 500mm f/4L IS II USM
Focal Length: 500mm
Aperture: f/5.6
ISO: 1000
Exposure: 1/1600