The Adopted Bear Cub

In July 2020 we encountered an unusual situation at Lake Clark National Park in Alaska. Our guide, Eric Fisher, told us they had seen a young mother Brown Bear, with a spring cub of her own, “adopt“ a yearling cub of another mother. The larger yearling even played with the tiny spring cub! We hunted around for a few days, trying to spot the family, but had little luck. Then right before lunch one day, Eric spotted what we all thought was a young male bear feeding on grass in the meadow. Turns out that bear was the young mother, and her spring cub and the adopted cub (whose biological mother was “Agro,“ an older bear) were nearby. We got some footage of the two cubs playing, and all three bears feeding on the lush grass, before they moved along. Special thanks to our friends David Coray, owner of Silver Salmon Creek Lodge, and bear guide Eric Fisher, whose interview audio tells the story of this amazing bear family. Music Licensing by Triple Scoop Music “C