Park rangers could hardly believe what was captured on the cameras they set up to monitor wildlife.
What they found was so remarkable that they posted it on social media.
“Recently, a bear discovered a wildlife camera that we use to observe wildlife in open space #Boulder,” tweeted Boulder Open Space and Mountain Parks (OSMP) earlier this week.
“Of the 580 photos taken, about 400 were bear selfies.”
The conceited black bear flaunted in a variety of poses. In one shot he looked straight at the camera, in another he slightly averted his eyes and even showed his long-nosed profile and stuck out his tongue.
Some Twitter users have asked how the 400 bear selfies were taken, given that large mammals are now in hibernation time. Colorado-based OSMP explained that it originally posted it to its Instagram account last year.
OSMP showed bear selfies to draw attention to how they use wildlife cameras to monitor habitats.
“Motion-detection cameras give us a unique opportunity to learn more about how native species use the landscape around us, minimizing our presence in vulnerable habitats,” OSMP Senior Ecologist Will Keeley said in a blog post.
“These cameras play an important role in helping OSMP identify important wildlife areas. The information we receive from them is used to recommend habitat protection measures to help protect vulnerable natural areas.”
OSMP has nine cameras on 46,000 acres of land that it oversees.
“Sometimes we put cameras in places where we think we will encounter mysterious fauna, such as American beavers or black bears,” OSMP ecologist Christian Nunez said in a blog post.
“We are lucky to live in an area with a rich diversity of wildlife, and these cameras help us find out what kind of animals really exist and what they do during the day, week or even years. .’
This is not the first time the camera has captured unusual wildlife shots.
Late last year a couple in Alaska a moose was observed shedding its antlers in real time after receiving a warning from the Ring doorbell camera, which recorded “one in a million”.
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