Over the weekend, brown bear mother #171, who originally had two cubs in July, nursed her remaining cub on the spit. Check out the highlight video from our Cam Ops.
This spring cub is the smallest one the rangers have seen there this year. Mom is certainly taking good care of it in this scene.
In Katmai, cubs will generally stay with their mothers for 2.5 years. During a cub’s first year of life they are considered cubs-of-the-year (COYs) or spring cubs. In their second year they are generally called yearlings and will den with their mother for at least one more winter.
Katmai’s bears generally separate from their cubs in May or June of a cub’s third summer. The female probably uses threats or aggression to cause the young to disperse. Some females, however, will keep their cubs through a third summer before pushing them away the next spring. (Read more here.)
See the bears on the Live Cam here. The season ends in a few weeks. Catch them in the meantime on the Lower River.
