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Happy New Year!

Somewhere in the National Forest outside of Grand Teton National Park lives a grizzly bear mom and a very brave cub.  

When the mom (known as Felicia or #863) woke up from hibernation this spring, she found two tiny cubs by her side. Disaster struck shortly after when one of the two cubs was - presumably - killed by another grizzly bear.  A cruel but fairly common occurrence in the grizzly bear world.

After grizzly moms give birth, they keep the cubs by their side for approximately 3 years, allowing them time to grow up enough so they can fend on their own. During these 3 years however, they only have eyes for their cub(s).  Male grizzly bears (or 'boars') look for females in heat (=ready to become pregnant). While the mom is caring for a cub (or cubs), she will have no interest in mating as she has her hands full as is.  Males have found a cruel solution for this: they sometimes end up killing the cub(s) which makes the female go into heat again.

So, earlier this year, a big grizzly boar presumably killed one of her cubs. Shortly after however, disaster nearly struck again.  No one knows exactly why (perhaps a male grizzly was in the area) but Felicia abandoned her cub.  Being away from the cub during the summer months meant that big male grizzlies would have little or no interest in the lone cub.

As we all watched and considered the last cub (known as Pepper) lost and doomed, the lone and small cub grazed by itself, caught voles and seemed to be doing surprisingly well!  All this time, the mom was never more than a few miles away (she has a tracking collar from the US Forest Service).  Many people made pleas to the US Forest Service to reunite the two ... to no avail.  Nature is nature: hard and cruel to watch at times.

A big sigh of relief followed however when the two finally reunited on their own!

Now that they are both safe in their den for the winter (I have some recent pictures of them to share with you later just before hibernation), the small cub (as pictured below in early summer) has grown into a real mini-grizzly bear; all furry and big! 

Hopefully mom and cub will appear safely again next spring after hibernation but who knows ... while the mom was 'without cub' for a good amount of time this summer, did she go into heat and will the two appear next spring with a new baby brother or sister?  Wishful thinking on my part ... but I bet this little one wouldn't mind to have a new play companion again!

Keeping up with mom

Staying close to mom

A mouthful of grass

A mouthful of something ... Cubs are extremely playful!

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