
Shocking images have emerged of emaciated and starving grizzly bears desperately searching for fish despite a depleted salmon population in Canada, just one month before the animals will burrow for warmth in hibernation.

The heartbreaking photos of the bears were taken near the shores of Knight Inlet on the British Columbia Coast by Canadian photographer Rolf Hicker, who posted them on Facebook on September 23.

A mother bear can be seen hunting for the fish along with her two bear cubs, her face and body gaunt and the contours of her bones and muscles visible through her fur due to her low weight.

Commercial fishermen in British Columbia have called this year the worst salmon season in nearly 50 years.

Experts say human activity such as salmon farming, which pollutes water and leads to disease among fish, and climate change, which has warmed water temperatures, have contributed to the dwindling fish population.

'Here in the Broughton there is no salmon left for the bears,' Hicker said. 'Advertising still shows the happy bears feasting on salmon, well, sorry to say - not here.'

The distressing images are a far contrast from bears preparing for winter by gorging on food elsewhere in the Northern hemisphere. Katmai National Park in Alaska is celebrating Fat Bear Week 2019 from October 2 through 8, where fans vote on pictures of their favorite chunky bears at the park.

Shocking images have emerged of an emaciated mother grizzly bear and her two starving cubs as they fruitlessly look for food amid depleted salmon stocks near the shores of Knight Inlet on the British Columbia Coast in Canada on September 23

The heartbreaking photos of the bears were taken by Canadian photographer Rolf Hicker, who posted them on Facebook on September 23 saying: 'Here in the Broughton there is no salmon left for the bears. Advertising still shows the happy bears feasting on salmon, well, sorry to say - not here'

He said he saw the mother bear and her two cubs a couple of weeks ago and snapped their photo when he saw them again in September, fearing that the animals won't make it through the winter as they haven't found enough salmon to eat in preparation for hibernation

The bears were photographed in Knight Inlet in British Columbia, Canada

While the Alaska reserve seems to have plenty of salmon to sustain the bears, it's a very different scene in Canada.

Photographer Rolf Hicker shared the photos on Facebook where they went viral. He said he fears the mother bear won't make it through the winter without salmon

'I have not seen a single salmon in a river so far. The bears are starving and it breaks my heart seeing this unfold,' Hicker said.

'We saw this sow with her two little ones a couple of weeks ago and then we saw her again only a few days ago. I have no idea how she would make it through the winter without salmon,' Hicker added. 'I sure prefer to show you beautiful nice wildlife and nature pictures but it is important and my duty as a photographer to show you this side too.'

The bears are the latest victims in a warming climate.

A report published by Fisheries and Oceans Canada warned that Canada's climate is warming twice as fast as the global average, and the impact is starting to severely hit the wild salmon populations.

'Marine heatwaves, warmer rivers and lakes, food web changes, increased floods and droughts, and other freshwater habitat changes are all affecting salmon,' the report said.

It's Fat Bear Week! Meanwhile in Alaska, the Katmai National Park is celebrating 'Fat Bear Week' where fans vote on their favorite fat bear before they go into hibernation. The park shared this picture on October first showing several bears trying to catch salmon

What bears SHOULD look like this time of year: This pair photographed at the Katmai National Park play in the water as they gorge on salmon to bulk up before hibernating in November

In this image, a bear known as 480 Otis is pictured thin in July and much chunkier in September

Last year's Fat Bear Winner: A bear known as 409 Beadnose won the Fat Bear competition last year. She's pictured above in June 2018 then again on September 30, 2018, showing off her remarkable weight gain before hibernation

Alongside climate change, campaigners against salmon farms say open-net fish farming is another factor in fish population losses.

The salmon crisis Wild salmon populations have declined in Canada and Alaska over the past few years - and its effect is hitting local ecosystems harder than ever Experts say human activity and salmon farming have contributed to dwindling populations Open-net fish farming has been criticized for polluting water and spreading disease among the fish Climate change, rising water temperatures, and increased floods and droughts put mounting stress on salmon populations 2019 marked the tied hottest summer on record tied with 2016. The Southern Hemisphere noted the second warmest winter in 140 years In Alaska hundreds of salmon died in July due to record-breaking water temperatures reaching 81 degrees in Cook Inlet A 2019 report said that climate is warming twice as fast in Canada than the rest of the world Advertisement

Don Staniford, Director of Scottish Salmon Watch, told MailOnline: 'Salmon farming is a malignant cancer on our coasts and is killing off not just wild fish but also bears, whales and shellfish.

'Far from being a panacea, salmon farming is a pariah with global impacts. Consumers can help by boycotting farmed salmon.'

Hicker said that the bears are being forced to travel for longer distances to find food, leaving them exhausted. He said that while the majority of the bears he had seen were not as thin as these ones, many of them had not appeared healthy.

'Grizzlies are not native to Vancouver Island,' he said. ' They are spending all their energy swimming to go to another location. They are being forced to do that for food.'

Concerns about starving bears at Knight Inlet recently led to councilors of the Mamalilikulla First Nation to take matters into their own hands and feed the bears approximately 500 salmon carcasses, donated by a local hatchery.

The carcasses were distributed along the shorelines where grizzlies have been known to frequent by volunteers.

On Sunday volunteered piled the fish into ice chests and dumped them in the area and the bears pounced on the fresh fish immediately.

'We were about 30 feet away from them,' Smiths aid to CNN. 'A little grizzly looked up at us and the mother bear came out to get the fish.'

Grizzly bear populations have dramatically declined over the past few years, particularly in British Columbia, due to hunting and habitat loss. A lack of a stable food source could become another factor to add to the pressure on the species.

The Katmai National Park shared this poster on Facebook reminding that bears can only fatten up for winter if they have clean water and a healthy ecosystem

The wild salmon population has steadily declined in British Columbia over the past few years - and now its devastating effects on the local ecosystem and food web are more prominent than ever.

It’s so bad that commercial fishing advocates asked the government for disaster relief to help in the industry.

In December the government in Britidsh Columbia along with First Nations created a plan to transition out of open-net farming by 2023 so that the wild salmon population can recover.

Open-net fish farming is contributes to the salmon crisis as it spreads disease and pollutes water, experts say.

'Everywhere in the world where there is salmon farming you have a decline in the wild salmon population,' biologist Alexandra Martin said. She's been researching the effects of farming for the past 30 years. 'This type of farming allows for waste to be added back into the water and exposes the wild salmon population to viruses.'

More than half of Canada's grizzly population lives in British Columbia, and their average weight is 220 to 880 pounds and salmon is their main source of food, according to the Nature Conservancy of Canada.

Grizzly bears hibernate for five to seven months eat year living off the fat they build up in the summer and fall months, typically retiring in late November.

Alarm has been raised globally over the health of salmon populations.

In Alaska this summer a heat wave led to the death of hundreds of salmon due to heat stress. Water temperatures in July broke records reaching 81 degrees in Cook Inlet.

A 2018 study by the Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada reported that half of the 16 chinook salmon populations were endangered due to a growing number of predators and the warming of the ocean.