When grizzlies and wolves clash, the bears usually come out on top, even though wolves prevailed in one recent brawl in Yellowstone National Park.
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Even though it wasn’t the case in a tussle in Yellowstone National Park this fall, grizzly bears generally at the top of Wyoming’s wildlife food chain, said a leading wildlife biologist said.
That includes general dominance over wolves, or at least being left alone by the canines, Wyoming Game and Fish large carnivore specialist Dan Thompson told Cowboy State Daily.
When a pack of 10 wolves successfully ran off a large grizzly this fall in Yellowstone, it was probably an exception rather than the rule, he said.
“The dominance hierarchy works itself out pretty well in nature with grizzly bears coming out on top, but the strategic pack strategy of wolves does come into play around certain situations especially involving carcasses,” Thompson said.
It’s suspected a carcass was involved in the clash filmed in October in the Hayden Valley area of Yellowstone. The wolves had apparently claimed a carcass and the grizzly seemed to want it – but the wolves thought otherwise.
In the video, the bear can be seen standing on its hind legs to observe the situation from a distance before dropping to all fours and lumbering in.
The wolf pack responds by closing in form multiple sides and soon all the critters are involved in a spinning melee that drags on for a few minutes. Then the bear decides it has had enough and lumbers off with the wolves pursuing it in a line before the bruin takes shelter in some timber.