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Inside a grizzly den: 3 orphaned cubs built this den on their own

The cubs would have been born in a den, but didn't have a mother to build one for their first independent winter in B.C.'s coastal rainforest.
CBC News ·

First-ever video of a rewilded grizzly bear den | Grizzly Rewild

2 years ago
Duration 2:22
These three grizzly bears were orphaned as young cubs. They spent over six months at a wildlife shelter, then were released back into the wild. The following spring, scientist Lana Ciarniello went to check out their den; it's the first time a rewilded grizzly bear den has even been filmed. Watch Grizzly Rewild on CBC Gem.

"The biggest thrill would definitely be to see them emerge from their dens," says research scientist Lana Ciarniello. 

"And to see their dens, to check out their dens, to see where they chose to den and what they constructed."

Ciarniello is leading North America's first study on the survival of rewilded grizzly bears (funded by the Grizzly Bear Foundation and the Northern Lights Wildlife Society). The study follows five orphaned cubs who were brought to the Northern Lights Wildlife Shelter in Smithers, B.C., and then released back into the wild after several months in captivity. 

The cubs were born in a den, but didn't have a mother to build one for their first independent winter in B.C.'s coastal rainforest. In the video above, Ciarniello searches for a grizzly bear den – after first making sure that the bears have left the area. She finds a den built by three of the rewilded orphaned grizzly bears, which has never been captured on camera before. 

Ciarniello crawls into the den and examines it. "They [made] a good attempt," she says. "They tried. Not the worst! Not the best, but not the worst….good on them."

Watch Grizzly Rewild on CBC Gem. 

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