LYING DOWN ON THE JOB
– Principal photographers for Disneynature’s “Bears” endeavored to place moviegoers within the world of the bears by shooting all footage within a bear’s eye line. This meant positioning the cameras—and the operators—low to the ground.
LUNCHTIME
– Hungry? In Katmai, you could eat a sandwich 10 feet from a bear and he wouldn’t be inclined to take a nibble. The production team—who regularly spent 12-14 hours a day out filming—was allowed to bring lunch on location. Meals never included fish—as bears would recognize this as food—but could be consumed in the presence of bears. Since these animals (unlike bears in the lower 48) have no knowledge of human food, they weren’t drawn to the scents the team’s lunch items emitted.
Extreme caution was taken to ensure no remnants remained. Everyone was advised to eat over a re-sealable storage bag. Drop a crumb? No problem—scoop it up, sand and all, and put in your bag to be brought back to camp.
The main camp employed strict rules regarding food so bears would not be enticed to venture into camp at night.
LOTSA FISH. LOTSA BEARS
– Katmai National Park and Preserve is home to an estimated 2,000 brown bears, who are attracted to the abundance of salmon—there are five species of Pacific salmon in Katmai, including sockeye, or red salmon.
ON THE MENU
– The brown bears that live in Katmai eat a variety of food (while waiting for the coveted salmon run). Bears snack on sedge grass, use their claws to pry open clams and other shellfish, munch on mussels and in late summer, will dine on ripe berries.
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