Kamchatka, Russia | Where the Salmon Rule, National Geographic Magazine: Russian Brown Bear Catches Salmon

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A brown bear, also known as a grizzly, feasts on salmon, a fundamental drama in Kamchatka’s still largely intact ecosystem. So many salmon—pink, chum, sockeye (above), coho, chinook, and masu—flood the waters that typically solitary brown bears crowd together to feed at Kuril Lake. Bears need to eat about 40 fish a day to put on weight to make it through the winter.

Brown bears in Kamchatka can be 7 to 9 feet in length and weigh 700-800 pounds. Species: U. arctic Genus:Ursus

Kamchatka has the highest density of brown bears in the world, with almost 15,000 on the Russian peninsula.