Coastal Brown Bear Sow & 2 Spring Cubs @ Kukak Bay, Katmai National Park, Alaska
Having never been to Katmai National Park before our trip this past June (2023), I had a checklist of Bear related pics that I really wanted to get.
Chief among these was a pic of a sow with Spring Cubs (cubs that had been born during the previous winter's denning period).
We went for days seeing sows with 2nd and 3rd year cubs, all of which were incredibly beautiful, but they were not the tiny little cuties that I really wanted to see.
Finally, on our next to last day in Katmai National Park, way, way off, we saw an adult Coastal Brown Bear with what appeared to be a trailing tiny cub. As we approached closer to the far shore where we had spotted the Bear and associated tiny followers, we were pleasantly surprised that we were finally witnessing a sow with two Spring Cubs.
Here they are, in all of their splendor. This was a short experience, as they were actually running away from something (possibly a male adult wanting to mate with the female) and they scooted down the beach until they found shelter in a rocky section of the shore where they successfully disappeared from view...from our view and from the view of any potential male adults that might have been following them.
Note that the sow is very thin. Our guide pointed this out and the reason for the lack of fat is that these Bears have only recently exited their den and Mom has been feeding the cubs her milk ever since they woke up. She's likely not had a chance to eat much and eating Sedge Grass has not enabled her to restore her fat reserve. Once the Salmon start running and she has a chance to eat the nice, fatty Salmon, she will likely bulk up very nicely and look far more healthy.
It was worth the wait, as the Spring Cubs were so very cute. We could not get very close to them, as the water was very shallow and our boat captain was leary of getting our skiff stuck in the mud (again). I tried to coax him into letting us off the skiff to wade ashore, but the Bears disappeared into the aforementioned rocks about that time and the experience was now a memory...a fantastic memory!
Coastal Brown Bear Sow & 2 Spring Cubs @ Kukak Bay, Katmai National Park, Alaska
Having never been to Katmai National Park before our trip this past June (2023), I had a checklist of Bear related pics that I really wanted to get.
Chief among these was a pic of a sow with Spring Cubs (cubs that had been born during the previous winter's denning period).
We went for days seeing sows with 2nd and 3rd year cubs, all of which were incredibly beautiful, but they were not the tiny little cuties that I really wanted to see.
Finally, on our next to last day in Katmai National Park, way, way off, we saw an adult Coastal Brown Bear with what appeared to be a trailing tiny cub. As we approached closer to the far shore where we had spotted the Bear and associated tiny followers, we were pleasantly surprised that we were finally witnessing a sow with two Spring Cubs.
Here they are, in all of their splendor. This was a short experience, as they were actually running away from something (possibly a male adult wanting to mate with the female) and they scooted down the beach until they found shelter in a rocky section of the shore where they successfully disappeared from view...from our view and from the view of any potential male adults that might have been following them.
Note that the sow is very thin. Our guide pointed this out and the reason for the lack of fat is that these Bears have only recently exited their den and Mom has been feeding the cubs her milk ever since they woke up. She's likely not had a chance to eat much and eating Sedge Grass has not enabled her to restore her fat reserve. Once the Salmon start running and she has a chance to eat the nice, fatty Salmon, she will likely bulk up very nicely and look far more healthy.
It was worth the wait, as the Spring Cubs were so very cute. We could not get very close to them, as the water was very shallow and our boat captain was leary of getting our skiff stuck in the mud (again). I tried to coax him into letting us off the skiff to wade ashore, but the Bears disappeared into the aforementioned rocks about that time and the experience was now a memory...a fantastic memory!