Perspective Series

At 15 months old, these three black bear cubs are in the midst of one of the most intense learning phases of their lives. Within the next few months, mom will send them out on their own as she prepares to find a new mate. Until then, nearly everything she does is a lesson, and one of the primary ways the cubs learn is simply by watching and mimicking her. So when I saw their mom move into the high grasses of this field, I ran up an adjacent hillside to get into position. I knew she would soon stand on her hind legs to survey her surroundings—and I knew her cubs would likely follow suit.

Sure enough, as soon as mom stood up, her cubs began mimicking her, learning for themselves how to cautiously navigate the meadow. The behavior was predictable; the timing was not. My challenge quickly escalated as it became clear that capturing all four of them standing at the same moment was going to require some luck. After dozens of attempts, everything finally came together: mom and all three cubs rose above the grass at once, like four little periscopes surveying the world around them.