A new video initiative is bringing the famed brown bears of Alaska's Katmai National Park directly to your computer or smartphone.
Without having to go there, you'll be able to watch mature bears compete for salmon at Brook Falls and other sites and cubs tumbling over each other as they play. Starting Tuesday, a live web stream (http: //is.gd/bfPAs8 ) will allow the public to log on and see the brown bears in their natural habitat.
"I think it's an unparalleled opportunity for people to get that front row seat of the lives of the bears at Brooks Camp," said Roy Wood, of Katmai National Park and Preserve.
The project is a partnership with explore.org, which set up four high-definition cameras in Katmai, spokesman Jason Damata told The Associated Press. Three of them are at existing viewing stands where bear fans come to watch the animals.
The cameras provide access to a national park that is difficult to reach and expensive for most tourists. It is about 440 kilometres southwest of Anchorage, but no roads lead to Katmai. A trip there involves multiple airplanes and a lot of advanced planning: it's hard to get a lodge reservation at Brooks Camp before 2014. Camping is allowed, but on a reservation system that goes online Jan. 5.
"It takes a lot of time, a lot of effort and a lot of money, and the webcams will make it accessible to anyone with access to a computer, a smartphone, a tablet device," Wood said.
The park draws just under 10,000 visitors a year, but about 2,200 bears live in Katmai National Park. About 100 of them are in the Brooks Camp area.
