Alaska bear photos

Brown bears fish for red salmon at the Brooks River Falls, Katmai National Park, southwest Alaska. (Patrick J Endres / AlaskaPhotoGraphics.com)

Alaska’s Bears

Alaska is unique in that it is home to all three species of bears: brown & grizzly bear (same species), black bear, and polar bear. Polar bears inhabit the northern Arctic shores and the offshore icepack. Grizzly bears are common to the Interior and Arctic regions and feed primarily on vegetation. Brown bears, although the same species, grow much larger due to the protein-rich diet of salmon found in Alaska’s coastal areas. Black bears, the smallest of the three species, inhabit forested and coastal regions.

All of the Alaska bear photos you see here are available to license as stock photos for commercial use or purchase as fine art prints for home or office.

Coastal brown bear rolls in a grassy meadow with its feet sticking in the air. Katmai National Park, the Alaska Peninsula, southwest Alaska. (Patrick J. Endres / AlaskaPhotoGraphics.com)


Portrait of an adult female polar bear in the snow on an island in the Beaufort Sea on Alaska’s Arctic coast. (Patrick J. Endres / AlaskaPhotoGraphics.com)


Black bear along a pink salmon, western Prince William Sound, Chugach National Forest, Kenai Peninsula, southcentral Alaska. (Patrick J. Endres / AlaskaPhotoGraphics.com)

Alaska bear photo search

A healthy respect for bears

Bears are the most formidable land mammals. The utmost respect for their wildness is essential. Like all mammals, bears communicate with each other. It is wise to learn their language of body posture and behavior. The National Park service offers instruction on how to act in bear country through video kiosks at Park Headquarters. For some places, like Brooks Falls in Katmai, participation in bear viewing protocol and behaviors is required.

Taking your own Alaska bear photos

If you’re a photographer seeking to capture Alaska’s bears, you’re in for a thrilling experience. With preparation and respect for safety protocols, it’s possible to photograph bears in many parts of Alaska. I’ve photographed all three species, focusing primarily on brown bears and polar bears. Brown bears, especially those in coastal areas, are more accessible due to their large congregations during salmon runs. Locations like Brooks Falls in Katmai National Park or the McNeil River Sanctuary offer exceptional bear-viewing opportunities..

Photographing polar bears, however, can be more challenging due to their remote Arctic habitats. A few Inupiat native villages along the Arctic coast, like Kaktovik, provide an access point for polar bear photography.

A few notable bear-viewing locations include:

Brown bears (Ursus arctos)

Brown and grizzly bears belong to the same species (Ursus arctos), but Kodiak bears are classified as a distinct subspecies (Ursus arctos middendorffi). Coastal brown bears are larger due to their salmon-rich diet, while grizzly bears in the Interior and Arctic rely more on vegetation.

The Kodiak brown bear is a distinct subspecies of the brown bear(Ursus arctos middendorffi). A female bear fishes along the stream edge, Kodiak, Alaska (Patrick J. Endres / AlaskaPhotoGraphics.com)

General Description

Brown bears appear in many color variations ranging from light brown or blonde to dark brown or almost black. The tips of the longer guard hairs may often be lighter. Physical characteristics that distinguish brown bears from black bears include a pronounced shoulder hump, smaller ears, and longer, straighter claws. Their fur color ranges from light brown to almost black.

Brown bear fish for red salmon at the falls of Brooks River, Katmai National Park, southwest Alaska. (Patrick J. Endres / AlaskaPhotoGraphics.com)


Brown bear claws are longer and straighter than those black bears. Katmai National Park, southwest Alaska. (Patrick J. Endres / AlaskaPhotoGraphics.com)


Female grizzly bear basks in the morning sun near a small tundra pond in Denali National Park, Alaska, snow-covered Alaska mountain range in the distance. (Patrick J. Endres / AlaskaPhotoGraphics.com)


While not always the case, male or boar grizzly bears are often darker in color than female bears. Denali National Park, Alaska (Patrick J. Endres / AlaskaPhotoGraphics.com)


Bears that inhabit the Interior and Arctic regions of Alaska eat a vegetarian diet primarily. Grizzly bear feeds on ripe, red soapberries in Highway pass, Denali National Park, interior, Alaska. (Patrick J. Endres / AlaskaPhotoGraphics.com)

Polar Bears (Ursus maritimus)

General Description

Polar bears are native to Alaska’s Arctic coast and ice pack. They roam the ice pack during the dark winter hunting for food. Their fur, and thick fat (up to four inches on the rump) provide insulation from the severe cold. Their white or cream-colored fur camouflages it from its prey. The bear’s short tail and small ears help reduce heat loss, and the narrow head and long, tapered body streamline it for swimming.

The polar bear has adapted live on land and the ocean and is considered a semi-aquatic marine mammal. Polar bears depend mainly upon fat-rich seals for food, which it hunts from the pack ice. It has uniquely adapted to sea, land, and ice life.

A female polar bear rubs her neck in the snow on an island in the Beaufort Sea on Alaska’s Arctic coast. (Patrick J. Endres / AlaskaPhotoGraphics.com)

Climate Change

Scientists now believe that the projected decreases in the polar sea ice due to a warming climate will have a significant negative impact or even lead to the extinction of this species within this century. The population of just between 20,000-25,000 polar bears has been shrinking. While there are some 18 distinct polar bear populations, Alaska’s southern Beaufort Sea population plummeted from 1500 animals in 2001 to 900 in 2010 (Ecological Applications Journal).

The United States Geological Survey estimates that the polar bear population will shrink to 1/3 of its size by 2050. These population reductions are mainly due to melting sea ice, limiting access to the polar bear’s primary food source.

An adult female polar bear stands and sniffs the air on a snowy island along the shores of the Beaufort sea, arctic Alaska. (Patrick J. Endres / AlaskaPhotoGraphics.com)


A polar bear shakes off the water while swimming in the Beaufort Sea, Arctic, Alaska. (Patrick J Endres / AlaskaPhotoGraphics.com)


Polar bear sow and cubs relax in the snow on an island in the Beaufort Sea, Arctic, Alaska. (Patrick J. Endres / AlaskaPhotoGraphics.com)

American Black Bear (Ursus americanus)

General Description

Black bears occur over most of the forested areas of Alaska, except in some places in the southeast where islands are inhabited only by brown bears. Black bears are often associated with forests but may be found from sea level to higher alpine areas. They hibernate during winter and may build dens in tree cavities, caves, and shallow depressions.

Black bears are the smallest of the North American bears, and males are more significant than females. Black bears are opportunistic eaters, but most of their diet consists of plants, berries, and insects, in addition to mammals, carrion, and fish. They have many different color phases ranging from black, brown, cinnamon, blue-black, and sometimes near white, although rare.

Black bear fishing for Pink salmon along a stream draining into Prince William Sound, Alaska waters. (Patrick J. Endres / AlaskaPhotoGraphics.com)


Black bear fish for pink salmon in a stream along western Prince William Sound, Chugach National Forest, Kenai Peninsula, southcentral Alaska.


One should use physical features to identify a black bear from a grizzly bear because they appear in many different color phases. Cinnamon phase black bear feeds on blueberries on the autumn tundra near Wonder Lake, Denali of the Alaska Range mountains, Denali National Park, interior, Alaska. (Patrick J. Endres / AlaskaPhotoGraphics.com)