Brown Bear Crossing a Dirt Clearing Below Conifers

A single dark brown bear stands small in the middle of the frame, seen from behind on a bare, stony track. Around it the ground is a patchwork of green grass, low shrubs and pale scattered patches of dried vegetation. On the right, a slope of grey shale breaks the greenery, and beyond it a band of tall, narrow spruce-like conifers fills the midground. Behind the trees a hazy blue mountainside rises with pale scree streaks. Warm, slightly hazy sunlight gives the scene a calm, quiet summer feel, with the bear as a tiny focal point in a big landscape.

Grizzlies are a North American subspecies of brown bear, Ursus arctos horribilis. They range across western Canada, Alaska and parts of the northwestern United States. They eat mostly plants, roots, berries and insects, along with fish and other animals when available, and they often travel through open clearings and along trails while foraging. Seeing one at a distance, as here, shows how much space an individual bear uses. The wide landscape format suits desktop monitors and ultrawide screens, where the small figure and the open foreground leave room for icons on the left and bottom.

More like this: Pale Grizzly Foraging in Denali Tundra and Three Bears Walking Down a Northern Highway.