Watch: Bear cubs mesmerized as giant moose charges through river
For three bear cubs on Alaska’s Brooks River, the sight of a giant moose bounding past might still be etched upon their minds.
The accompanying footage, captured over the weekend via bear cam, shows the cub triplets seemingly mesmerized – possibly terrified – by a bull moose galloping through water just yards away.
Momma bear does not appear in the footage, but she’s probably nearby. Adult brown bears, fishing for salmon elsewhere on the river, are visible in the background.
Moose is Loose!! Are these 94 Cubs? pic.twitter.com/bQPnXS0p5v
— explore.org (@exploreorg) October 3, 2022
It’s unclear what prompted the moose to run through the river.
Explore.org, which maintains the bear cams in conjunction with the National Park Service, asked avid bear-cam followers if the cubs might belong to an adult brown bear cataloged as Bear 94.
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Brown bears on the Brooks River, in Katmai National Park, are internationally famous thanks to the bear cams and the annual bracket-style competition known as Fat Bear Week.
Fat Bear Week, during which fans vote for their favorite and fattest bears, is held every fall as a tribute to bears’ success in packing calories in advance of hibernation. (A single salmon may contain 4,000 calories and some bears consume dozens of salmon per day.)
This year’s competition is Oct. 5-11 and an older bear nicknamed Otis is the defending champion. Voting for the Fat Bear Junior Finals ended last week, with Bear 94’s triplets losing out to the yearling cub of Bear 909.
