Bear Cubs: Teddy Bears in the Wild

Shot at Silver Salmon Creek Lodge, Lake Clark National Park, Alaska in June 2017 with the Canon 1Dx, 7D II, 500mm f/4 II and 100 - 400mm II

Since leopard, cheetah and polar bear cubs are my favorite subjects to photograph, I never made it back to Silver Salmon Creek Lodge, Alaska after my first visit in 2006 due to travel conflicts. But, I finally returned in 2017 on a buddy trip and had a ball photographing these cute and fluffy furballs. At a year old, these coastal brown bear cub, aka yearlings, looked just like teddy bears. We were also blessed with animated 4 month old spring cubs which were fun to watch too. And one of these days, I'll get around to editing and posting my black bear cubs as well.

A real concern: The lives of Alaska's coastal brown bears could be threatened by the construction of the Pebble Mine. The issue is that the mine could effect Alaska's notorious salmon run and the large concentration of bears that live downstream on the Alaska peninsula (Cook Inlet to the East and Bristol Bay to the West). Learn more about the issues from this Jan. 2020 National Geographic article.