This is the last cub of "Frost", or "Misha", a female polar bear who was a star in Norwegian media. The image was taken on 8 May 2022 across the bay from Longyearbyen (Svalbard archipelago) as the mother-cub pair were on the run on the ice shelf from a giant male bear. The pair eventually outpaced the male and we spent over three hours with them. The cub was playful and conflicted between following its mother and taking a closer look at us in the zodiac. It was therefore looking in our direction while running after its mother. Polar bears usually have twins which are each other's playmates but in this case, the mother seemed to be fed up with the friskiness of her single cub and was urging it along whenever it stopped near the edge of the ice shelf to watch us. Eventually the pair disappeared into the icy landscape. And into oblivion, as it turned out, since the young cub was euthanized after its mother drowned in an inept attempt to tranquilize her. The mother had gotten into the habit of foraging near the town of Longyearbyen and was undoubtedly teaching her cubs her ways, which the locals regarded as a threat.
This is the last cub of "Frost", or "Misha", a female polar bear who was a star in Norwegian media. The image was taken on 8 May 2022 across the bay from Longyearbyen (Svalbard archipelago) as the mother-cub pair were on the run on the ice shelf from a giant male bear. The pair eventually outpaced the male and we spent over three hours with them. The cub was playful and conflicted between following its mother and taking a closer look at us in the zodiac. It was therefore looking in our direction while running after its mother. Polar bears usually have twins which are each other's playmates but in this case, the mother seemed to be fed up with the friskiness of her single cub and was urging it along whenever it stopped near the edge of the ice shelf to watch us. Eventually the pair disappeared into the icy landscape. And into oblivion, as it turned out, since the young cub was euthanized after its mother drowned in an inept attempt to tranquilize her. The mother had gotten into the habit of foraging near the town of Longyearbyen and was undoubtedly teaching her cubs her ways, which the locals regarded as a threat.
