A brown bear has been dubbed “mother of the year” after promptly saving her cubs when they were swept over a waterfall.
Much to the delight of wildlife enthusiasts, non-profit explore.org has cameras set up throughout Alaska’s remote Katmai National Park, including one next to Brooks Falls. The falls are known as a popular fishing spot for brown bears, which converge there each summer, when spawning sockeye salmon try to swim upstream.
The footage of the bears is streamed live, providing online viewers with an unfiltered look at these animals’ daily lives—without having to worry about disturbing them or putting themselves in jeopardy. Watching these bears wade into the shallow waters above the falls as they bat their paws at the jumping fish is mesmerizing, but every once in a while, the cameras capture something even more incredible—like a mother bear rescuing her cubs.
Explore.org posted the video of the quick-thinking bear named Grazer to their Facebook page last week. In the video, Grazer is standing over the edge of the small set of falls, searching for salmon, when she catches a glimpse of one of her cubs being pulled over by the rushing water.
A second cub goes over the falls shortly after, and that’s when she realizes she’s going to have to cut her salmon fishing short. She immediately springs into action, jumping off the falls and running through the shallow water to her little ones.
The video cuts out just as they all make it safely to shore.
“Love how she went to their rescue right away. She’s also pretty powerful. Took those rapids like a piece of cake,” one commenter wrote.
“It’s getting to be a daily thing…those three over the falls or pulled downstream by the rapids,” said another, who’s apparently witnessed the cubs’ shenanigans before.
We’re not sure how often it happens, but we can bet that if it continues much more, those cubs are going to be in trouble.
