Child Clown of the Arctic

This image from 8 May 2022 saddens me because since then the cub's mother (Frost or Misha) has drowned during an inept tranquillization attempt and this cub has been shot because it was deemed too young to survive on its own. The mother-cub pair were on the run on the ice shelf from a giant male bear. They eventually outpaced the male and we spent over three hours with them. The cub was conflicted between following its mother and taking a closer look at us in the zodiac. It repeatedly attempted to stand up to see further, but each of these clumsy attempts lasted less than a second and resulted in what looked like dance moves. It seemed a fast and eager learner since it was aleady imitating the mother's moves to break though the roof of an ice cave to catch a seal. Those attempts were also quite funny and and moving in their futility. I am very sorry its life was cut short so early.