Stunning drone footage shows the dramatic moment a wild brown bear hunted an elk on a beach in the Russian Far East.

The video, which was recorded by Anna Eliseeva on April 22 in the Kronotsky Reserve in the Kamchatka Peninsula, shows the bear chasing the antelope through the breaking waves.

After a while, a standoff develops with the elk remaining in the ocean and the tired bear guarding the prey on the beach.

According to Aliseeva, who is the state inspector of the park, the bear had just left its den and was ravenous after hibernation and so took on the formidable challenge of bringing down the hefty elk.

Eliseeva watched the animals for about an hour but didn't get to see how the story ended although she did say it was unlikely a lone bear could successfuly catch an adult elk.

The bear, which had just recently left the den, chased the moose for quite a long time. But after a while, apparently, he got tired, at first he stood still and guarded the prey, and then lay down and watched the moose from a more “comfortable” position. Anna Eliseeva, the state inspector of the Kronotsky Reserve, watched them for a total of about an hour. Unfortunately, it is not known how this story ended.

The hungry predator, which lost a significant part of its weight during the winter sleep, seems to have seriously decided to hunt the elk. However, his chances of coping with a healthy adult animal alone are not very great. These largest representatives of the deer family can reach a weight of up to half a ton, their body length averages 220-300 cm, and the height at the withers is 170-230 cm.

The non-standard situation here is that deep snow comes almost close to the ocean. Therefore, the elk has the opportunity to move only parallel to the water's edge. The animal cannot go to the shore, in the snow, because it is deep there. And the bear understands this, and most likely, this is how he tried to catch him. However, the moose turned out to be tactically competent: he moved away into the waves, even swims a little, and since he is taller than a bear and longer-legged, where the clubfoot was already overwhelmed by water, the moose moved calmly. Most likely, the bear did not learn anything according to the author.

Credit to: IG @_anyuta_eliseeva

Non-exclusive