We hope hunters will spare the ten mothers with cubs that have been spotted in the study area in the last week. In addition to recent spottings of Lily, Jewel, Pixie, Katrina, Carolyn, and Cinna; four more were spotted in the last four days: 19-year-old Colleen with 2 cubs, 16-year-old Bow with 2 cubs, 13-year-old Star with 2 cubs, and 10-year-old Vanna with 3 cubs. That makes ten mothers with 25 cubs.
Cinna
Cinna is a non-clan bear whose non-clan mother (Kimani) has been seen each year 2018-2021. In 4-year-old Cinna, we see her mother’s ferocious manner. She puts the run on males that come to close to her cubs and even dives in and bites them. She concentrates her feeding on the single feeding spot that her mother showed her back in 2018 when we took her ID picture (not shown). Her scats show she is still eating mainly chokecherries and pin cherries when she is not here. The pictures are of her and her three cubs this year.
 Cinna and her cubs |
 Cinna's cub |
After 55 years, the bears are still building our understanding by revealing individual personalities and behavioral nuances. Insights into their minds and mannerisms are always intriguing. Among our biggest joys is seeing bears drastically change course members’ views and beliefs about them. A joy today was seeing a previous bear course participant spread her husband’s ashes across the ground where she and her husband had ‘life-changing’ experiences that were among the most memorable of their lives together.
Thank you for all you do,
Lynn Rogers, Biologist, Wildlife Research Institute and North American Bear Center