The seemingly clumsy brown bear is not just incredibly fast and agile; it is also capable of the most loving care for its cubs. Bear sows usually give birth once every three years, in January or February, to between one and four cubs, which come into this world totally blind, helpless and with the size of a squirrel (300 to 500 grams in weight). Most simply don’t make it. The mother nurses them until they are 4-5 months-old. Then she must start looking for food for herself while guarding and training her offspring. In the first months after leaving the den, the young cubs never stray from their mother. The sow is caring yet very strict with them, lest they fall easy prey to wandering males, other predators or humans. This is why female bears are so fierce and dangerous in an accidental encounter during that period.

The cubs do not leave the den until they are a year and a half old. Females grow till their fifth year, while males only reach maturity by age ten or eleven.