Nature played out in all its ugly brutality on September 30th in Katmai National Parks, right on the bear cams.
Bear 469, a large male, killed and partially ate Bear 402, an older female who had just emancipated her record breaking 8th litter earlier this summer. Than the drama continued, with Bear 32 Chunk, the most dominant bear at Katmai this season, driving Bear 469 off the cache and taking it for himself.
I believe this is the first time an adult bear has been killed onscreen at Katmai, though rangers have witnessed several occurrences off camera in the past. While there are numerous examples of cubs being killed, including several on cam, this has been a shock to everybody and Fat Bear Week has been delayed to give people a chance to fully take this in.
This probably occurs more often than we think in Katmai and of course we cannot hold it against Bear 469. Survival is paramount and calories, from whatever source derived, are critical to survival.