Three's A Crowd: Mother Bear Chases Off Curious Male

AN INQUISITIVE adolescent bear leaves with his tail between his legs after being chased-off by a protective mother

The young male, who was believed to be newly-independent, wanted to tag along with another family after spotting it walking along the coast.

But the fully-grown mother had other ideas and gave chase to the hapless bear.

Photographer Greg Morgan captured the photos on a trip to Lake Clark, Alaska, in northwest America.

The 44-year-old from Walthamstow, London, said: “What happened is that the mother and her cubs were going about their business.

“The young male was only about three-years-old, and we think had only recently been left to fend for himself. Maybe he was a bit lonely.

“Bears aren’t very social animals when they get older, and the mother doesn’t want her cubs to be near any other young bears.

“When this one got too close she gave chase, and the other bear just managed to escape.”

Brown bears are common in the state of Alaska, which is home to roughly 98% of the country's population of the species.

Former civil servant Greg took the photos on June 18.

He said: “This was my first day on the trip so this was a real treat.

“It was great to see the wildlife behaving in this natural way one-to-one. It was very exciting.”