Black Bear Family's Epic Fight For Survival (Bear Documentary) | Real Wild

[Music] this is fourrion national park on canada's northeast coast at the very tip of the gaspe peninsula the first to set foot here believed they had found the land's end fortion juts into the cold waters of the gulf of st lawrence it is capped with a boreal forest and bordered by ancient cliffs of sandstone shale and limestone [Music] no people live here anymore but this protected area of 240 square kilometers is home to about 100 black bear these are mostly females who would seem to have found on this remote peninsula a relatively safe place to raise their young becoming a mother for the first time is no easy feat for the black bear the young females must overcome a world of challenges this is the story of one such bear of her drive to create life and of the animals that share this strip of land with her here at the edge of the earth at land's [Music] end [Music] it's the beginning of october and in a final flash of color the forest is preparing for winter the summer visitors have left the park for the season and a young female is foraging around the empty campsites instinct is driving her she only has about 30 days left in which to find food and gain sufficient weight to survive the long winter fast she made it for the first time this past spring and although her eggs have been fertilized it is still far from certain that she will give birth this coming winter the embryos held within her body will only continue to develop if she is sufficiently fat and healthy to carry them to term otherwise the process will be interrupted if she's to become a mother for the first time the young female will have to spend the next few critical weeks eating for up to 20 hours a day she climbs into the trees and bushes to eat their fruit this time of year one particular shrub bears a major portion of her diet the dogwood its small white berries are plentiful this year and the young female eats her fill [Music] many porcupines also share the forest of the fourion peninsula for them fall is the season for courtship [Music] in a few days this male and female will descend the tree together in order to mate carefully on the ground [Music] but for now courting is reserved to moments between meals of spruce buds early november most of the bears are asleep in dens they have dug for themselves in the depths of the forest it's not the cooling weather that has driven them into hibernation but rather the lack of food once there is no longer sufficient food to meet their needs they enter their dens curl up and go to sleep here they will spend the next six months many of the females will give birth in the middle of the winter and will have to produce milk for the newborns while having nothing to eat or drink themselves in so doing the new mothers will sacrifice up to 40 of their body weight [Music] making it through the bitter winter is a massive challenge to all the creatures of the forest like the bear some will sleep the season away others survive on food they've cashed and on what they can find in their frozen territory [Music] most birds take flight for the south those that remain have to struggle daily to accumulate the energy needed for survival for some this comes in the form of winter buds seeds and frozen fruit while for others it comes in the form of the flesh of their prey [Music] february deep in the snow-covered forest in the safety of their dens many of the bears have given birth was our young female among them was she able to grow fat and healthy enough to give life the porcupine will not give birth to her young until the spring she remains active all winter gestation adds to the demands on her energy at a time when the weather is at its coldest and high quality food is the hardest to find in winter this rodent feeds on the inner bark of a variety of trees her incisors never stop growing use keeps them impressively sharp and just the right length [Music] mid-april the snow that has piled up during the long winter is starting to melt and the water within is released once more some will evaporate and some will soak into the earth the rest will find its way to rivers and lakes and eventually to the sea as it flows the water absorbs and dilutes minerals and nutrients making them available to living things everything is now ready for the forest's reawakening among the bears the first few early risers come out into the light of day for some a poorly located den flooded by the thaw was an early wake-up call during these first few days the adult bears wander leisurely near their dens they are thin and will continue to lose weight for several weeks after fasting for half a year they slowly prepare for a more active life [Music] early may the young female is a mother for the first time she gave birth to two cubs during the winter they have only been venturing outside of the den for a couple of weeks but are already skilled tree climbers in fact climbing is the first essential skill cubs learn in their new environment at the slightest sign of danger their mother sends them to take refuge high in the treetops [Music] the cubs are now three months old and weigh only about a kilo and a half each they would appear to be in good health for now but are still quite small for their age for these little ones the next few weeks will be crucial the new mother must start eating again if she is to be able to produce good quality milk for her cubs it will be weeks before there is any nutritious food to be found in the forest as there is still much snow on the ground so with her cubs trailing along behind her she heads for a sunny hillside where the snow has melted there food should be easier to find along the way they will have to cross a series of streams to the cubs they must look like torrential obstacles one of the cubs managed to cross the first stream without difficulty but the other hasn't found its way and calls out to the mother bear for help from the other side of the spring runoff she encourages her cub to cross [Music] [Music] the cub eventually finds a way the thicket of branches serves as a crossing safe and dry the little one rejoins the family black bears are mainly vegetarian they will occasionally feed on carrion and sometimes in the spring they succeed in taking newborn deer or a moose calf but 85 percent of their diet is from plants at the moment the young female is feeding mostly on new shoots buds and roots here on the thin strip of land that is forial park vegetation first grows in open areas exposed to the rays of spring sun mainly in fields campgrounds and picnic sites the access roads to these zones are still closed and there are not many visitors in the park for the next few weeks the little family has free reign in the prime sites one of the cubs is visibly fatter than the other this is the result of a hierarchy that was established during the first moments spent suckling in the den the dominant cub was able to stake a claim to the most productive teats although they will not be weaned for another three or four months the cubs begin cautiously sampling plants by watching their mother they learn which ones are good to eat for now the mother bear and her cubs feel comfortable everywhere in the park they will eat play rest and sleep wherever they choose and when the little ones get hungry or tired of walking they will sometimes pester their mother into letting them hitch a ride on her side [Music] mid-may the porcupine has given birth [Music] at the tender age of one week the baby porcupine shows tremendous tenacity as it tries to climb after its [Music] mother but today it will have to wait until the mother comes back down in another week or so this tiny porcupette should be an expert tree climber [Music] porcupines produce only one offspring per year during the first few weeks of life this little one is extremely vulnerable to predators as its quills are not yet sufficiently developed to serve as defense at the age of just two months the mother will leave the young porcupine to fend for itself [Music] the young mother bear forages while her cubs relax in the safety of a tree top on the forest's edge when the time comes to climb back down the tree and move on a rather unwelcome surprise is in store for the little ones while the siblings were at the top of the tree a porcupine climbed into branches below them to feed [Music] this may prove to be a dangerous turn of events for the cubs the slightest touch with the prickly creature could provoke the porcupine to strike with its tail possibly leaving dozens of quills painfully embedded in their flesh despite their lack of experience the young bears know they need to keep their distance with a little quick thinking they find a detour and descend the tree safely did instinct tell them to give the animal such a wide berth in forion national park bears come across porcupines every day it's very likely that the cubs learned this valuable lesson by watching their mother using intimidation to carefully drive them away today the cubs are not getting as much to eat as they would like and their hunger has made them aggressive their mother will usually let them sort out their differences themselves but even her patience has its limits none of the mother bears six nipples is producing milk she is unable to satisfy the hunger for petulant cubs and the situation is trying everyone's nerves it's time to move on in search of food the black bear's most powerful sense is its sense of smell as she moves along the path she uses in the forest the young female leaves her scent on selected trees this morning the path happened to be a road and the tree a utility pole the young mother will rub herself on several of the poles along the way for her this is a way to make her presence known it's as if she were saying to other bears i passed by this way with my cubs and i feed in this area late may food is now sufficiently rich and abundant for the mother to produce plenty of milk her cubs are content and drink their [Music] fill but the mood is about to change a moose is slowly approaching the young mother and her cubs focused on foraging the powerful young moose probably has no idea that he has moved into the bear's area sensing something amiss the cops decide to seek safety and climb the nearby tree alerted to the moose's approach the mother bear defends the base of the tree and makes it clear that the intruder is unwelcome [Music] the young moose eventually understands that it would be better to go a different way [Music] the young bear family forages over an area of around 10 square kilometers another female is roaming in the same area she is the mother of three cubs they are much bigger than the two cubs born to the young female as they were born two winters ago and are now 16 months old these adolescent cubs have learned much from their mother the days they will spend in her company are nearly at an end [Music] this morning the young mother has returned to forage at the same campsite she visited last fall it would seem that her cubs are happy to be here the first campers of the season will arrive in a few weeks until then the young family will make regular visits there is plenty of food a source of water nearby and dense protective forest cover where the mother can safely sleep with her cubs the young mother is dozing with her babies at the edge of the forest when the other female arrives at the campsite with her three adolescent cubs adult male black bears will often attack and kill cubs so mother bears are very wary when they sense the presence of other bears nearby [Music] when a certain critical distance between them has been breached the reaction is immediate in both families [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] after a good scare the new arrivals decide to go feed a little further away calm returns and the young mothers cubs purr with contentment the bond between the mother and her cubs is the only strong relationship in the life of a black bear every moment of the 16 months that she will spend with her little ones is dedicated to their education and care [Music] even though these are her first cubs the young female is an excellent mother she protects and nourishes her little ones raising them with strict authority but also showing enormous tenderness she frequently takes time to play [Music] currently the young mother feeds near the manicured campsites as well as three other areas within a few kilometers of each other [Music] she will spend a few days here then move on to another spot at each of her chosen spots the mother bear picks out a rest area ideally it is located at the edge of the forest within 50 meters of the feeding grounds the chosen rest area is always located at the base of one or more large evergreens that the little ones can escape up into away from danger a sure sign of better times the young female has begun to regain some of the weight she lost over the winter the cubs are still a little small for their age their chances of surviving the next winter will depend greatly on the availability of dogwood berries in the coming months [Music] but for now at least life is good for the little family in their piece of forest by the sea [Music] the daily routine is well established after feeding her cubs the mother will sleep for a while the cubs will often nap as well snuggled against their mother's body but at the moment they're not sleepy there are so many new things to discover so many skills to practice after about an hour's rest the female will leave in search of food and drink she won't go far she always remains within earshot of her cubs ready to return to their side whenever she is apart from her cubs she remains alert at the slightest suspicion of danger she will race to their rescue as for the cubs they're becoming bolder with each passing day no longer happy to wait for their mother at the rest area they begin to explore the nearby forest [Music] when they're alone together the cubs often play and test their strength [Music] much of the cubs time apart from their mother is spent investigating nearby trees up in the branches they're safe free to play and explore [Music] the female has spent about an hour foraging and returns to her cubs she calls for them but the little ones are gone with a sense of smell seven times more powerful than a dog's the black bear's nose doesn't miss much by sniffing around the rest area the mother bear discovers what each of her cubs has been up to while she was away and picks up on which way they went her nose leads her to the base of a tree about 30 meters away she calls out to the cubs who rapidly scamper back to her [Music] so mid-june the young female in her cubs find the flowers of dandelions to be particularly tasty and they spend the greater part of their day grazing on them [Music] the cubs are now five months old and will still get milk from their mother for another two or three months but nonetheless plants now make up an important part of their [Music] diet the campsite and its selection of delectable dandelions has attracted another visitor today the newcomer has wandered a little closer to the cubs than their mother would like oh once her little ones are safely up a tree the young mother makes it very clear to the intruding bear that it is not welcome here [Music] before its designation as a national park fourrion was home to a number of families who fished and farmed here some of their homes have been preserved along with their fields and orchards bears are now frequent visitors here and our young family is no exception this morning as is now her habit the mother bear has left her cubs at a rest area she chose before going off to forage her little ones are becoming less and less patient and decide of their own accord to go in search of their mother the mother is upwind of her little ones and does not catch their scent as they approach and so her first reaction to the sound of her cubs is fear finally she recognizes their calls and greets them with a warm welcome from now on the cubs will follow her to the feeding areas more frequently they have grown sufficiently alert and speedy to graduate to this new step [Music] late june the lilacs are in bloom around the old farmhouses in the national park summer vacationers are still rare but today the bear family is paying a visit thanks to their improved climbing abilities the little ones are able to reach flowers at the very tips of branches [Music] [Music] despite her more substantial weight the young mother bear is also able to move through the lilacs branches with remarkable grace [Music] true to their youth the cubs are willing to try their luck and test the limits of what a lilac bow can support [Music] their mother distributes her weight and can move through the branches without them giving way but the laws of physics can only be bent so [Music] far [Music] the young female is resilient it will take more than a two meter tumble out of a lilac bush to change her habits over the course of the next week through rain and shine she and her cubs will eat their fill of lilacs and dandelions early july the bears now stay away from the campsites the park is filled with summer visitors and the bears must quickly adapt to the human presence most bears move farther into the forest there's plenty to eat there now and they will be left alone others have moved to areas that are slightly more challenging to access this juvenile male has ventured out onto some of the steepest cliffs on the peninsula to graze on a few wilted dandelions young male bears are rarely tolerated by others in best feeding grounds this youngster seems to have found the perfect spot to have all to himself the vegetation isn't in the greatest abundance here something else makes this particular location very desirable just a few hundred meters from where he is grazing is the largest colony of black-legged gulls in eastern canada [Music] many gull hatchlings accidentally fall from their nests and die on the beach at the base of the cliff the young bear takes advantage of the easy meal rich in protein while there isn't much shade in which to escape the summer heat the cool waters of the gulf of st lawrence make for a refreshing break black bears are nothing if not opportunistic once they uncover a good food source they're quick to adapt their ways since the summertime arrival of human visitors in the park the mother bear and her cubs have withdrawn they progressively abandoned roadsides fields and campgrounds in favor of the forest new shoots are growing here too even in the most shaded areas [Music] the mother now rarely leaves her cubs alone as she forages the little ones follow her constantly but often at a certain distance more and more the mother bear is able to let them explore their surroundings and she's no longer so vigilantly on [Music] guard even when her cub loses sight of her and begins calling out the mother bear doesn't react she's able to tell by the tone of the calls that there is no immediate danger and leaves the young cub to use its sense of smell to find her again [Music] um [Music] black bear cubs are gradually weaned between six and eight months soon the mother will begin to diminish the nursing sessions [Music] every day the cubs learn more about survival in the forest that surrounds them today's lesson given by the mother bear is about another source of food for an adult bear stripping the bark from a cedar tree is relatively easy at this time of year and under the bark is a delicious sap rich in nutrients [Music] [Music] after she has had a taste the mother makes room for the little ones who are quick to imitate her [Music] [Music] [Music] it will be some time before the cubs are strong enough to feed themselves in this way but when the time comes they will remember this lesson [Music] early august this year the dogwood bushes are heavy with fruit perfect conditions for the young mother and her cubs [Music] in about three months the black bear of fourrion will return to their dens already it's time to start preparing for winter they will once again have to store an immense amount of energy in the form of body fat the family of bears take full advantage of the abundance of berries but they will also round out their diet with insects whenever they come across them [Applause] finding a nest of ants inside rotting wood takes a fair bit of know-how and work a task beyond the abilities of the cubs the mother is a practiced expert and the little ones learn yet another lesson but they seem to have their own flair for rooting out tasty insects the young female has successfully seen her cubs through the most vulnerable period of their lives with the abundance of berries available in their territory all should be able to gain enough weight from now until the end of the season of plenty to survive their first winter fast the cubs will hibernate together in a den with their mother in the spring when they are 16 months old the mother bear will push them away and they will have to strike out on their own [Music] the black bears of fourrion national park are unique their behaviors their habits the way they raise their young have all been continually shaped by the land and the life here [Music] they share an inextricable bond with the forest the plants the animals and this narrow peninsula jutting out into the sea at land's end [Music] you

Channel: Real Wild

Views: 102,216

Rating: 4.7990146 out of 5

Keywords: full documentary, wildlife documentary, wild animal, real wild, animal documentary, animals, black bears for kids, black bears documentary, black bears running, black bears fighting, black bears climbing trees, black bears playing, black bear cubs, black bear cub, black bear documentary, black bear video, black bears, black bear, bear documentary, bear documentary hd, bear documentary youtube

Id: Ol_h2BYQueQ

Length: 45min 43sec (2743 seconds)

Published: Tue Mar 09 2021