A wildlife camera caught an amazing sight at California's Lava Beds National Monument, leaving park officials in awe.
The short clip shows a black bear taking a sip of water from a pool inside a cave. After getting the quick drink, the bear appears to bump the camera, which gets nudged in a slightly different direction.
Bearly a caver"Can I pet that dog?" No. Occasionally, caves at Lava Beds can sustain year-round pools of water. With no available surface water, these pools are a critical resource for wildlife, like this handsome fella! After taking a drink of cool, refreshing cave water, this American black bear (Ursus americanus) tried to help us out by realigning our wildlife camera for the resources team. Thanks bud! Black bears sightings in the Monument are incredibly rare, so don't worry too much about running into Yogi here on your next trip to Valentine.
Posted by Lava Beds National Monument on Saturday, September 13, 2025
"Occasionally, caves at Lava Beds can sustain year-round pools of water," park officials wrote on Facebook. "With no available surface water, these pools are a critical resource for wildlife, like this handsome fella!"
Black bears are common in the Pacific Northwest, but can also be found throughout other parts of North America. In fact, they are the only bear that resides in northern California, where Lava Beds is located.
However, officials stressed that these sightings are not frequent.
"Black bear sightings in the Monument are incredibly rare, so don't worry too much about running into Yogi here on your next trip to Valentine (Cave)," the park's Facebook post read.
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Along with providing a little-seen glimpse into how bears act within these caves, this clip also highlights the importance that wildlife cameras have taken in environmental studies.
By setting these cameras in places humans don't normally venture, or in spots that animals can't easily see, researchers are able to record wildlife behavior that would normally go unseen — or endangered animals in previously unknown areas.
In 2024, for example, researchers set up 41 cameras as part of a study on mousedeer in Singapore. By accident, they also captured images of the endangered Malayan tapir, which is not native to the area.
In early 2025, a United Kingdom wildlife trust captured a rare video of a trio of bitterns, a rare bird species that had disappeared from the country in the 1870s but is now making a comeback.
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