Trail cameras capture heartwarming footage of massive mama bear and cubs enjoying grassy field: 'It was really cool'

Okanagan outdoorsman Cory Jmaeff captured video evidence of grizzly bears returning to Lake Country in recent years by using trail cameras, iNFOnews reported.

Ten years ago, Jmaeff never saw bears when reviewing his footage. Now, he says that he sees a bear on every camera.

Jmaeff operates an entire network of trail cameras located within a half hour of city centers in the Central and North Okanagan of British Columbia. The ones on the east side of Okanagan Lake behind Kelowna, Lake Country, Vernon, Cherryville, and Lumby capture the most grizzly activity.

"A lot of people in Kelowna would be surprised to know grizzly bears [are] all around us now," he said. "I'm seeing grizzlies on my cameras at least once every year in each location."

He gave the example of a charming encounter near Oyama Lake in June. A mother bear stopped to spend a long time scratching, and her cubs rolled in the nearby grass.

"The cubs were playing in the grass and watching her. It was really cool," he told iNFOnews. "Unfortunately, after the bears left, a herd of cows came around and ate all the grass, and my camera battery drained taking videos of them. A pack of gray and black wolves showed up, and I only got a one-second video of them because the cows killed my battery."

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Trail camera setups are one example of citizen science, when ordinary people participate in the scientific process. For example, they can gather data that can be used by researchers and policy makers to perform important research and establish conservation efforts that help protect wild areas. This participatory system can be as simple as jotting notes in an app or taking a photo, giving scientists information about which species are present in your area.

In this case, Jmaeff confirmed the success of decades of efforts to increase the grizzly population in the Okanagan region. More conservation projects will follow, bringing these charismatic and environmentally vital animals back into the ecosystem.

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