Grizzly bear mama spotted with a shocking number of cubs!
Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming - A mother bear was recently spotted with a shocking number of cubs! This grizzly mama had five baby bears in tow, the most ever recorded in Yellowstone National Park.
![Normally, female grizzlies give birth to one to four cubs every two years or so (file photo).](https://media.tag24.de/951x634/q/x/qxboq1a4s2ixpcwiqukj2lik9ato6cm6.jpg)
Grizzly bears aren't famous for having large litters – mama grizzlies usually have between two and four cubs at a time.
All that makes the spotting of a mama bear with five babes in tow in Yellowstone National so surprising!
Andrea Baratte, a Yellowstone guide, captured footage of the large bear family on the move. Bear experts told the Cowboy State Daily that this is the first time they've seen a litter of five in the park.
"Five cubs in a litter are the most we have ever observed in the park, at least from 1959 to present – the period of the park's history we have good records for," National Park Service spokeswoman Linda Veress explained, per KKTV.
A five-cub bear litter is a first for Yellowstone Park
![Five bear cubs in one litter is a first for Yellowstone National Park (file photo).](https://media.tag24.de/951x634/i/v/ivsyefvsgtq0u1jkona3fhin9sydm59u.jpg)
"A litter of five cubs would be a first for grizzly bears in the Greater Yellowstone ecosystem," Frank van Manen, the lead research biologist of the US Geological Survey's Interagency Grizzly Bear Study team, told Wyofile.
To date, the largest litter of grizzlies was spotted in Yellowstone in 2020 and consisted of four baby bears belonging to Grizzly 399.
As large litters are so rare, there's a good chance that not all five are the biological cubs of this mama bear.
"We do not know if all five cubs are hers, or if she may have adopted some of them," Veress said.
"In Yellowstone, the average litter size for grizzly bears is two cubs. Approximately 49% of cubs survive their first year."
Researchers have observed mama bears adopting other cubs before, so it wouldn't be too surprising if this litter is a mixed family – though experts say they would have to do genetic testing to know for certain.
Cover photo: Collage: 123RF/natureguy & Screenshot/YouTube/@StanMills