Bear with single Cub

This particular image etched itself into the deep recesses of my mind. The affection expressed between mother bear and yearling cub remains one of the most poignant visions I’ve captured to date. Here, the cub is giving mama bear a big kiss. The closeness spoke volumes, after the bear guide shared the mother’s recent loss of another cub. The story offered little detail, other than the death.

I watched the surviving cub snuggle and play. A colleague had witnessed the mother in a somersault with the cub in her arms and I smiled at the thought. Little did I know, these two bears were part of the family I photographed the previous year in “Bear Family Standing in Forest”. Coincidentally, they stayed close to us and away from the other bears in the area.

Coastal Brown Bear, Lake Clark National Park, Alaska, 2013

Canon 1DX, Canon 600mm F/4, f/5.6, 1/1000s, ISO 1600, monopod