There’s no place in America quite like Alaska. Among its many natural gems is the Kodiak National Wildlife Refuge. This nature preserve encompasses 1.9 million acres in southwestern Alaska, covering two-thirds of Kodiak Island plus Ban and Uganik Islands. The refuge was established in 1941 and is rich in scenery and wildlife (e.g. it’s home to 600 pairs of bald eagles), but is especially famous for its population of Alaska brown bears. The refuge is remote and is accessible only by boat or float plane, so just the adventuresome visit.
The Wildlife Refuge has a visitor center outside of its borders, situated in the town of Kodiak, which we visited when we were there. It’s a great place to learn more about the amazing brown bears, also known as Kodiak or coastal grizzly bears. These bears can weigh up to 1500 pounds, can be 5-feet-tall on all fours and 10-feet-tall when standing on their hind legs. It’s estimated that between 2,000-3,000 Kodiak brown bears live in the Refuge where they grow to their gigantic size by feasting on the rich salmon runs that fill the creeks and streams every summer.
(Alaskan Brown Bear skull)
The Kodiak Refuge Visitor Center has displays that highlight the life of Kodiak bears, including the vital salmon runs the region is famous for….
There’s a mock-up of a hibernating bear…
…and a look at the omnivorous diet of the bears….
One of the highlights of the visitor center is a full grey whale skeleton. A photo of this suspended skeleton was featured in last weekend’s One Clue Mystery photo (shown below). It was identified by Professor Abe and George G — congratulations to both.
There is a bookstore in the refuge run by Alaska Geographic, worth browsing through.
While the refuge is best know for bear viewing and wildlife observation and photography, it offers world class fishing for salmon and steelhead, camping, kayaking and other opportunities.
To me seeing brown bears in the wild is akin to seeing lions roam free in Africa.
