Brown Bear Sow Disciplining Cub in Meadow, Katmai
Katmai National Park and Preserve
A brown bear sow growls at her cub in an open meadow with distant mountains rising behind. Mother bears in Katmai spend a lot of their day managing their cubs' behavior, and low growls, cuffs, and short charges are normal parts of that communication. None of it looks gentle but the cubs almost always come right back. Family groups are the most fragile part of a bear population and the sow is on high alert the whole time cubs are with her, watching for adult males as well as any threats on the ground. It shows up clearly in body language moments like this one. Brown bear sow and cub, Katmai National Park and Preserve, Alaska. Ursus arctos. Photo © copyright by Carl Donohue.