Cute, cuddly but immediately plunged into a life and death situation, it’s not easy for the grizzly bear cubs that are born at this time of year.
So not so grisly to start with, the cubs have to become hardened to the harsh winter, lack of food and other aggressive bears of Alaska and British Columbia fast.
Thousands of bear families emerge from hibernation under the snow in January and February every year. They have had nothing to eat during this time and will initially survive on their mother’s milk.
It is this fat-rich milk and the mother’s warm body to snuggle against that helps the cubs grow from their tiny initial weight of one pound. They are also blind for three weeks after being born.
There are normally two cubs to every litter, and whether they live or die depends largely on the annual salmon run, which we’ve written about here.