Mother & Son Grizzly Doing Yoga

During a short hike in Banff National Park in May 2021, I spotted a mother grizzly and her young cub on the other side of the pond. My heart stopped. After a few seconds, I calmed myself down, gently retreated a few steps, lied down on the grass, and enjoyed an incredible scenery for almost 2.5hrs. It looks as if the mother grizzly was instructing yoga to the youngster (not sure about the gender), but I think it’s a male cub who was very playful and uncoordinated, or lack of core muscles. Every time he tried again and again, but no success. After at least 30 attempts, he gave up and wandered around, sniffing the flower and grass. His mother, on the other hand, was not impressed. In fact, she sounded and looked annoyed by her son’s behaviour. He did return and did try, but failed again and again. Every time, he tried to lift his leg straight up from a seated position, he fell backward or rolled to the side. I was laughing so hard, but silently. Wow. What a treat.