Yellowstone National Park biologists on Monday logged the first official grizzly bear sighting of the spring season.
It’s exciting because it signals a mass awakening that’ll occur over the next several weeks, with most bears out of their dens by early May.
Can you spot the grizzly bear mom and cubs?
Which reminds me of an encounter I enjoyed in May 2024, involving a momma grizzly bear and three newborn cubs. Can you spot this family on the distant landscape in the top image? (Answer below.)
ALSO: Flying ‘dinosaur bird’ soars past photographer in rare encounter
The bears had been feeding in Lamar Valley near the highway. They created a significant traffic jam before crossing and advancing toward the northern foothills.
Grizzly bears in a cropped image.
The cubs were enjoying their first spring, curious and playful but always close to mom.
The bears continued up the slope, becoming smaller and difficult to track.
Same grizzly bears lower on the slope.
I climbed a knoll to watch but they were too far for me to capture a detailed image at this point. But I’ve included cropped versions of images from the same sighting.
The bears eventually vanished and I returned to my vehicle and continued my journey through the valley, searching for more bears and other wildlife on the spring-green landscape.
Momma grizzly bear and 3 cubs.
The bears in the top image are circled in the fourth image. I can’t help but wonder if they’re all still alive.
This article originally appeared on For The Win: Yellowstone grizzly bear with newborn cubs – can you spot them?