Collar Cams Offer Rare Glimpse Into Grizzly Life on Alaska's North Slope

Researchers outfit 12 bears with cameras to document how they survive the frigid, desolate terrain near the Arctic Ocean.

Feb. 1, 2026 at 1:47pm

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Researchers from Washington State University and the Alaska Department of Fish and Game have outfitted 12 grizzly bears in one of the most remote populations in the world with collar cameras to document how they live and thrive on Alaska's rugged North Slope. The videos provide a rare first-hand perspective of the bears' daily activities, from eating caribou and musk ox carcasses to foraging for berries and interacting with other wildlife like wolves.

Why it matters

The research project aims to better understand how this isolated grizzly bear population survives the harsh Arctic conditions, including their food sources and denning habits. This information could help guide oil and gas development in the region to minimize impacts on the bears.

The details

The 12 bears outfitted with collar cameras are part of a population of around 200 grizzlies that roam the frigid, treeless North Slope near the Arctic Ocean. The cameras record short video clips every 10-15 minutes, capturing the bears' activities like eating caribou and musk ox carcasses, hunting caribou calves, foraging for berries, and even interacting with wolves. The bears hibernate for about 8 months of the year, so the researchers are particularly interested in understanding how they obtain enough food resources to survive that long dormant period.

  • The researchers tracked and tranquilized the bears by helicopter in May to fit them with the initial collar cameras.
  • In August, the researchers darted the bears again to replace the collars.
  • In September, the researchers downloaded data from the collars and measured the bears' weight gain and body fat.

The players

Washington State University

A public research university that is leading the grizzly bear research project in collaboration with the Alaska Department of Fish and Game.

Alaska Department of Fish and Game

The state wildlife agency that is partnering with Washington State University on the grizzly bear research project.

Ellery Vincent

A doctoral student at Washington State University who is leading the grizzly bear research project.

Jordan Pruszenski

An Alaska Department of Fish and Game wildlife biologist who is working on the grizzly bear research project.

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What they’re saying

“We're interested in looking at kind of a broad scale of how they're obtaining the food that allows them to survive through the year and what exactly they're choosing to eat.”

— Ellery Vincent, Doctoral student, Washington State University

“One thing that's really nice about these bears is that when they're foraging on a particular food they tend to do that one thing for a long period of time, so these bears will spend pretty much their entire day eating, so the chances of us actually seeing what they're doing are pretty high.”

— Ellery Vincent, Doctoral student, Washington State University

What’s next

The research project will continue for another two years, with plans to add collar cameras to 24 more bears in the North Slope grizzly population.

The takeaway

This innovative research project is providing a rare, first-hand look at how one of the most remote grizzly bear populations in the world survives the harsh Arctic conditions of Alaska's North Slope, offering valuable insights that can help guide conservation and development efforts in the region.