Watch a Huge Grizzly Bluff Charge a Ranger in Yellowstone
Drivers in Yellowstone National Park were just treated to a rather intense moment where a park ranger was charged by a grizzly who then responded with warning shots to discourage the bear.
I've watched this video multiple times and I'm not 100% sure the grizzly was bluffing. It's not a long video and you don't get to see much of what happened prior to the charge, but it's obvious that the ranger understands that the bear is agitated by his mannerisms. The ranger is trying to keep traffic away from the grizzly, but it's not enough as the animal finally threatens.
Watch closely and you'll see that the grizzly seems to be favoring it's front left paw. That means you're potentially dealing with a wounded grizzly which could be big trouble for anyone near him.
It's not clear what the ranger was firing at the bear, but it appears it was not intended to hit the grizzly but to convince him to be a bear elsewhere.
As we've mentioned previously, there's a big difference between a grizzly who's just curious from one that is intending to do you harm. We've shared plenty of fun moments when grizzly cubs were merely relocating a traffic cone. This is something else entirely.
As the North American Bear Center mentions, bluff charges are intended to scare and/or intimidate. The problem as they point out is that every bear has a different personality, so you can never be 100% certain that the grizzly's charge would stop short of an attack. Fortunately, this ranger was prepared and no bears or tourists were harmed in this crazy encounter.