Another new location we visited this year on our trip to Minnesota was Vince Shute Wildlife Sanctuary in Orr, Minnesota. This park is in the very northern part of Minnesota close to Voyageurs National Park. I have some conflicted feelings about this place which I will describe. All of the bears here are wild. There is no fencing and many of them roam across a wide area which includes the sanctuary. However at the sanctuary they feed the bears daily. This leads to some very unnatural behavior and some very unhealthy bears. As a photographer it was an interesting experience as I got to spend a full day walking around and the bears are much more accessible and easier to photograph than anywhere I have ever been. I got to see some activities such as sleeping in the trees, a mother nursing her cubs, and several cubs that scampered up trees with the slightest reasons. A cool experience and I definitely got some good photos.
Awesome photos, Matthew. I can understand why you have mixed feelings – I would too. It’s surprising that feeding wild bears is allowed.
Thanks Ed. My basic understanding is that since it has been going on for so long and there are so many bears habituated to it, all of those bears would be helpless if they just stopped.