a day ago
Wild horses shown trying to outrun grizzly bear; not all of them succeed
Wild horses on the eastern slopes of the Rocky Mountains in Alberta, Canada, are under threat of attack each spring and summer by grizzly bears. It's especially true of foals, which are younger, weaker, and slower than adult horses.
The accompanying trail-cam footage, courtesy of the Help Alberta Wildies Society, might sadden viewers when they learn that one of the foals was likely caught by the bear. (Click here if the video doesn't appear below.)
The fleeing horses enter the frame at 32 seconds. The bear's capture of the foal is not shown, but HAWS later explained that the third foal shown in the footage has not been seen since the June 20 chase.
'I believe this is the day we lost Benji,' HAWS stated.
HAWS, which strives to protect wild horses in the region, has a passionate social-media audience and some followers are emotionally attached to animals that regularly appear in trail-cam footage.
ALSO: Tense moments in Yellowstone as German Shepherd leaps from vehicle to chase wolf
The top comment on the post announcing that Benji had been lost: 'Poor little buggar! Gets mugged by mares in his herd, and then ends up bear food. Not a fun time for the short life of this baby.'
The top reply, which alludes to the mares' rough treatment of the foal in a previous video: 'My heart hurts for precious little Benji. I think he stole it when I saw the mares being mean to him in the first hours of his short life. I wanted to snatch him up and bring him home right then.'
HAWS has featured lots of footage showing bears chasing wild horses, repeatedly countering an old argument by the Alberta government that the horses have no natural predators.
This article originally appeared on For The Win: Wild horses try to outrun grizzly bear, but no happy ending this time
