This footage shows an Alaskan brown bear dropping a salmon it has just caught back into the river before having a chance to eat it. The Alaskan forest service shared this clip of the hungry brown bear fishing for salmon in the state of Alaska on 5th April with the title “on the hunt for Monday motivation”.

The video was posted for National Wildlife Week, which takes place between 5th and 11th April. The forest service added: “Brown bears are found along parts of coastal Alaska including in Alaska’s National Forests. Here they have an abundance of fatty, and nutrient-rich salmon to pack on the pounds during the summer.”

In the footage, chubby salmon are seen thrashing below the surface as a relaxed bear stands in the water, casually looking on. At one point, the bear strolls through the water before suddenly lunging at one salmon and appearing with it in its jaws. The stocky animal chomps down on the fish before apparently dropping it into the water as the footage ends.

The forest service says on its website: “Bears are intelligent animals, capable of learning and modifying their behaviour based on life experiences. “All species have an acute sense of smell.

The First Nations have a poignant saying: ‘A pine needle fell. The eagle saw it. The deer heard it. The bear smelled it’. “Smell is a bear’s most fundamental and important sense. Bears are thought to have reasonable visual acuity and hearing. Knowledge of bears’ senses and appreciation of their curious nature is useful information to remember when in bear country.”