This brave wildlife videographer named Bartolomeo Bove captured incredible close-up footage of a mother bear nursing her cubs in the Kamchatka Peninsula, east Russia.

The bears seemed unfazed by Bove as they strolled past him and plonked themselves down just metres away.

Bove said: "The Kamchatka Peninsula is home to approximately 24,000 brown bears, the largest brown bears of Eurasia, excellent swimmers and sharp predators.

"The area of the Kurile Lake, the deepest and the second largest lake of the Peninsula, in Southern Kamchatka is visited during summer by hundreds of bears hunting for salmon. I have spent five days on the lake filming these magnificent animals.

"Bears are cannibalistic and quite often adult males eat cubs. When an adult male is in the surroundings females use to bring the cubs near people because they know that humans would not harm them.

"This mama bear trusts humans so much that she came twice, on two different days, to this spot close to us to breastfeed her cubs. The Kamchatka bear cubs stay with their mother until they reach the age of 2.

"The cubs born in the Kurile Lake area stay with their mother until they are 3 years old, as there is abundance of food and females can afford it. Scientists observed that the mother bear can decide how many cubs she will give birth to depending on the availability of food sources.

"Bears don't go into a real hibernation. In the colder months, they retire to a den (which the Russians call a berloga) and fall asleep. Females give birth to cubs while sleeping. In the Kurile Lake area, many of them swim up to some islets located inside the lake to give birth away from the attacks of adult males.,"

Bartolomeo Bove is a wildlife & underwater videographer. At the beginning of August 2023 he traveled to the Kamchatka Peninsula, Russian Far East, to film the largest brown bears of Eurasia.

The Kamchatka Peninsula is home to approximately 24000 brown bears, the largest brown bears of Eurasia, excellent swimmers and sharp predators.

The area of the Kurile Lake, the deepest and the second largest lake of the Peninsula, in Southern Kamchatka is visited during summer by hundreds of bears hunting for salmon. I have spent 5 days on the lake filming these magnificent animals.

Bears are cannibalistic and quite often adult males eat cubs. When an adult male is in the surroundings females use to bring the cubs near people because they know that humans would not harm them.

This mama bear trusts humans so much that she came twice, in 2 different days, to this spot close to us to breastfeed her cubs. The Kamchatka bear cubs stay with their mother until they reach the age of 2.

The cubs born in the Kurile Lake area stay with their mother until they are 3 years old, as there is abundance of food and females can afford it. Scientists observed that the mother bear can decide how many cubs she will give birth to depending on the availability of food sources.

Bears don't go into a real hibernation. In the colder months they retire to a den (which the Russians call a berloga) and fall asleep. Females give birth to cubs while sleeping. In the Kurile Lake area, many of them swim up to some islets located inside the lake to give birth away from the attacks of adult males.




Wildlife Videographer Captured Incredible Close-Up Footage of a Kamchatka Mama Bear Nursing her Cubs in the Russian Far East