This elk calf never stood a chance against one of North America's most fearsome predators.
While many people consider Yellowstone National Park to the cream of the crop when it comes to National Parks in the lower 48 states, do not sleep on Grand Teton National Park just to the south of it. In fact, this writer for one, likes the Tetons just a little more than Yellowstone. At least as far as scenery is concerned.
Also, the Grand Tetons holds just as much wildlife as Yellowstone. After all, it is all part of the greater ecosystem. This is a place where you can see moose, elk, bison, black and grizzly bears on a regular basis if you know where to look.
It is easy to get mesmerized by the beauty of the Tetons and forget that you are exploring a wild, natural place. The Tetons are a place of both life and death. There is a constant struggle for survival going on with the animals that live there. Case in point is this footage of a grizzly bear running down an elk calf within the park.
If you go back and watch closely at the beginning of the video, it appears the calf got caught up and knocked over by the rest of the herd as it was running away. You can clearly see it running next to a cow we presume to be its mother early in the video. Unfortunately, by the time it had recovered, it was too late. The bear was right there and waiting to pounce on the easy meal.
This was a rough way to go for any animal and the squeals of the calf make it even harder to watch. Especially the way it tried to thrash and get away before the grizzly dragged it into the brush. However, this is how the food chain works. These tourists were treated to a front row seat seeing nature's brutality in action.
While the elk calf may have died, that helps the grizzly to live. Such is the way life is lived for animals in one of our country's most famous National Parks.
For more outdoor content from Travis Smola, be sure to follow him on Twitter and check out his Geocaching and Outdoors with Travis YouTube channels.
