It's well known that bears can move fast, and British wildlife artist Robert E Fuller captured their sheer speed on camera while vacationing in Alaska. Fuller, who has just returned from his trip, had his camera at the ready when a grizzly came stampeding down a river towards a group of photographers.
Fuller, who was visiting Lake Iliamna with a guide, saw over 60 bears over the course of a single day. Thankfully the one sprinting upriver was much more interested in salmon than photographers, and was later seen sinking its teeth into a large fish, but the situation could have turned out quite differently.
"She had two small cubs with her, and the cubs ran straight towards us," Fuller explained in a comment on his video, which you can watch below. "We ended up between her and her cubs, which changed the situation so we headed off down stream."
Grizzlies, like all bears, generally prefer to avoid contact with humans unless they have become habituated or food conditioned. They will rarely attack unless they feel threatened or they believe their young are at risk, so it's very important not to get between a mother and her cubs.
It's illegal to approach within 50 yards of a bear in a National Park, but as Fuller notes, the bears themselves don't know the rules. To find out how to handle a similarly close encounter, take a look at our guide what to do if you meet a bear.
