Wildlife Photographer Captures Stunning Video Of Mother Bear Leading Her Four Cubs Through The Snow In Wyoming

Follow the leader.

It’s a momma bear’s duty to raise her young until they are able to fend for themselves out in nature. That process usually takes around two years, and obviously looks different from sow to sow. This particular grizzly had her paws full with four littles ones (actually not-so-little-ones) as they traversed the snowy landscape of Jackson Hole, Wyoming.

Often times, nature is a scary place. It’s an animal-eat-animal world out there, and the outdoor videos on the internet that get the most attention are often more violent. But every so often, something heartfelt and innocent happens with wild animals that makes the great outdoors a little less intimidating.

With that being said, I’m not encouraging people to let their guard down around bears. I’m instead just sharing this video and making it clear that interactions with any wildlife should be from a safe distance. Like how this wildlife photographer was a safe distance away from this family of bears, and was still able to capture a breathtaking video.

Breathtaking in the sense of beauty, not danger. It looks like this bear family wasn’t in any really trouble at all. The mother bear was keeping things moving right along, setting the pace and clearing the path for her younglings to follow. That’s typical for animals traveling through the snow… instead of each creature barreling through the snow on their own, one usually does the grunt work and the rest follow in a single file. Feels like the advantage goes to those in the back of the pack.

This particular bear is most likely Grizzly 399, nicknamed Queen of the Tetons. She was the oldest known reproducing female grizzly bear, who birthed 18 cubs, including this litter of four during the course of her remarkable life. Standing at roughly 7 feet tall and weighing close to 400 pounds, Grizzly 399 was a picturesque grizzly bear, captivating tours of the greater Yellowstone area. She tragically passed away when she was struck by a vehicle in the fall of 2024.

And having four cubs together, all at once, is rather rare. The photographer and videographer (Gregory B. Balvine) says that this family of five was apparently headed towards their den site and trying to get out of the snow when they were captured on camera:

“A brown bear and her four cubs are traveling to their den site near Jackson Hole, Wyoming.”

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Talk about a full house.

Bear dens vary in size, but a family this big would have to have one of the bigger ones out there. The animal’s home is typically dug out in the ground, and gives the bear ample space to stand, turn around, and obviously lay down. Dens often have separate chambers, and I’d guess the one that these bears were headed towards had at least one chamber for the mother and one chamber for the kiddos (maybe even two for them).

Probably made it large enough so that hibernation wouldn’t be too cramped when that time comes (or at least I hope that they did). That’d be a whole lot of bear for one den to handle, but I’m sure the mother bear took care of it all and their Jackson Hole den setup perfectly fits the whole family.The post Wildlife Photographer Captures Stunning Video Of Mother Bear Leading Her Four Cubs Through The Snow In Wyoming first appeared on Whiskey Riff.