The European Brown bear was once widespread across most of Europe including Britain.  It is thought that they were hunted out of Britain around 500 AD.  Therefore a visit to mainland Europe is needed to view and photograph these large magnificent mammals.  A fully grown bear weighs between 250 and 350kg. which is the weight of several men, and they have to be seen to fully appreciate just how big they are.

The European Bear population is thought to be up to 50,000 individuals with bears are still reasonably common across a wide area of Europe from Scandinavia, Spain, Greece, and much of Eastern Europe.  Bears are thought to occur in 24 countries in Europe and are at risk in Spain, France and Italy where populations are really low and could be less than 100 in each country.  Russia is thought to have a large population of 35,000 bears that has steadily grown as hunting has declined since the Russian revolution of 1917.

Like many wildlife photographers I visit Finland to get my bear images and these images were taken in Finland at a "bear hide" close to the Russian border.