European brown bears
All rights reserved.
No publication without written permission of the photographer.
Location: Finland
Photographer: © Pia Dierickx
Sparsely populated Eastern Finland is an untamed expanse of pristine natural beauty. The vast, dense taiga forest, interspersed with lakes and rivers, offers a haven to the elusive European brown bear.
Heading deep into the forest to specially prepared observation hides, we aim to spot this amazing animal in its natural habitat during.
Kainuu region is one of the final true wilderness areas in Europe. Walking the forest trails brings us to the hides.
Travelling east towards the Russian border we enter brown bear territory. Finland is home to approximately 1000 bears; but the proximity of this area to the Arctic Circle, with resultant long hours of daylight increases the chances of viewing these predominantly nocturnal animals.
Our isolated hides, located in a small open wetland area, have been adapted to maximize the chances of spotting bears, whilst balancing the needs for a level of comfort.
Generally spoken European brown bear are small, weighing between 45-120 kg and feed on a wide range of plants and small animals.
Unlike North America, there are hardly any dangerous encounters between people and brown bears in Europe. The bears seem to have learned to keep well away from humans.
Upright, the bear reaches a height from 1.5 to 3 meters. In spite of their size, they can run has speeds going up to 56 km/h. The brown bear is digitigrade legs fronts and plantigrade of the back legs. I.e. that it poses in first the “fingers” then the heel of its forefeet and that it poses all the plant of its legs posterior at the same time.
No publication without written permission of the photographer.
Location: Finland
Photographer: © Pia Dierickx
Sparsely populated Eastern Finland is an untamed expanse of pristine natural beauty. The vast, dense taiga forest, interspersed with lakes and rivers, offers a haven to the elusive European brown bear.
Heading deep into the forest to specially prepared observation hides, we aim to spot this amazing animal in its natural habitat during.
Kainuu region is one of the final true wilderness areas in Europe. Walking the forest trails brings us to the hides.
Travelling east towards the Russian border we enter brown bear territory. Finland is home to approximately 1000 bears; but the proximity of this area to the Arctic Circle, with resultant long hours of daylight increases the chances of viewing these predominantly nocturnal animals.
Our isolated hides, located in a small open wetland area, have been adapted to maximize the chances of spotting bears, whilst balancing the needs for a level of comfort.
Generally spoken European brown bear are small, weighing between 45-120 kg and feed on a wide range of plants and small animals.
Unlike North America, there are hardly any dangerous encounters between people and brown bears in Europe. The bears seem to have learned to keep well away from humans.
Upright, the bear reaches a height from 1.5 to 3 meters. In spite of their size, they can run has speeds going up to 56 km/h. The brown bear is digitigrade legs fronts and plantigrade of the back legs. I.e. that it poses in first the “fingers” then the heel of its forefeet and that it poses all the plant of its legs posterior at the same time.