Watch as ‘goofball’ bears play fight each other while bathing in Arizona, video shows
A couple of cute bears were caught play-fighting at a southern Arizona watering hole, video shows.
The photographer who captured the moment believes they were locked in courtship play, he said on Instagram.
“This is my first time getting these two bears together, so I am assuming this is courtship play,” Jeff Wirth wrote in the Oct. 21 post. “I have gotten both of them on their own a (handful) of times, so this was a surprise to see!”
It was such a surprise, the photographer says he “screamed” when he saw the footage from the trail camera he set up near a deep watering hole.
Wirth refers to himself as an ecological storyteller, who usually focuses on tracking and photographing mountain lions, according to his Instagram account. But through his work, he’s “fallen in love with all the critters big & small” — including the bears at the watering hole.
“I found this really well-fed, spring-fed, pool, and you know, in Arizona, pools like that are normally wildlife magnets,” he told 12News. “All the animals around here need that resource, need that water to get through the summers.”
The trail camera captured the video in late summer, he told the station. It was likely before the bears started bulking up for hibernation.
“Pools that deep are generally used by bears as bear bathtubs or bear wallows,” he told the station. “I’ve gotten so many bears visiting that exact pool this summer.”
Several people commented on the post saying the bears’ behavior was pretty adorable.
“Cutest bear video ever!” a fellow wildlife photographer Mark Girardeau said.
Wirth responded: “this one is going to be hard to beat.”
“Can’t stop smiling,” another person said.
“What a couple of goofballs,” someone else said, adding a question to the photographer: “Do we think they’re siblings?”
“I’ve never seen them together before,” Wirth replied. “But I’ve seen them separate quite a bit. I think they were courting and likely mated.”
“Oh my gosh, love this!” another person said. “What cuties!”
This story was originally published October 23, 2024 at 5:05 PM with the headline "Watch as ‘goofball’ bears play fight each other while bathing in Arizona, video shows."
