‘Cautious eyes’ focus on grizzly bear family in Yukon meadow

Momma grizzly bear and two large cubs have a wary audience in wild horses that appear ready to bolt at the first sign of trouble.

A trail camera in Canada’s Yukon Territory has captured an interesting scene involving a momma grizzly bear and two cubs being watched intently by wild horses.

“A beautiful grizzly family strolls along on a recent autumn morning as cautious eyes watch from afar,” David Troup of Yukon Wildlife Cams described Thursday via Facebook.

Viewers will note that the horses appear frozen into the landscape; they’re that wary of the bears and making a move that might prompt a predatory charge. (Click here if a video player does not appear below.)

https://www.facebook.com/yukonwildlifecams/videos/839394361509756

Troup told FTW Outdoors that his camera captured this scene Sept. 15 and added that he was not aware of grizzly bear predation involving this group of horses.

Grizzly bears will sometimes chase horses in the hope of catching a tired foal or causing a large horse to fall.

The scene captured by Troup’s camera is reminiscent of a dramatic scene captured by a trail-cam network in 2022 in Alberta, Canada, involving grizzly bears chasing horses that were clearly running for their lives.

Regarding that scene, the Help Alberta Wildies Society stated on Facebook: “The next time someone tells you that the Wild Horses have no natural predators, send them to me.

“We are losing a lot of horses this year, sooner and quicker than in past years. Not just the foals. Adults also.”

Can you spot the Yellowstone grizzly bear and her three cubs?

In Yellowstone National Park, distant grizzly bear sightings can be as satisfying as up-close sightings, but you sometimes need a keen eye to see them.

In Yellowstone National Park, a distant view of grizzly bears can be as satisfying as an up-close roadside view because it requires a keen eye and the bears are in more of a natural setting.

Can you spot the momma grizzly bear and her three cubs in the image I captured this week from a hillside above the Lamar Valley highway? (Answer below.)

Can you spot the grizzly bears? Photo: ©Pete Thomas

These bears have been grazing on both sides of the highway and creating substantial traffic jams, or “bear jams,” whenever they’ve been visible.

Momma bear is raising three first-year cubs, or cubs of the year, and the tiny “COYS” were never far from her side while I observed them.

Grizzly bear family on Yellowstone hillside. Photo: ©Pete Thomas

During this sighting the bears were ascending the hillside opposite the valley after being run off by a bison herd in a meadow surrounded by sagebrush.

They were too far for me to capture a detailed image with my 400-millimeter lens but I’ve attached a cropped version of a different image from the same sighting that shows the bears in more detail.

The bears are circled in the image posted below.

Grizzly bear family in the Yellowstone wilderness. Photo: ©Pete Thomas