A curious black bear has been photographed interacting with a wildlife camera in a Colorado park, seemingly posing and waving for staff.
The bear is a resident at City of Boulder Open Space and Mountain Parks (OSMP), and was spotted on a camera used to monitor sensitive habitats. Boulder OSMP shared a handful of the best snaps on its Twitter account.
"Of the 580 photos captured [during one night], about 400 were bear selfies," staff explained. Even more snaps can be found on the park's Instagram account.
Recently, a bear discovered a wildlife camera that we use to monitor wildlife across #Boulder open space. Of the 580 photos captured, about 400 were bear selfies.🤣 Read more about we use wildlife cameras to observe sensitive wildlife habitats. https://t.co/1hmLB3MHlU pic.twitter.com/714BELWK6cJanuary 23, 2023
As local news outlet KUSA explains, staff use nine cameras to keep tabs on wildlife throughout 46,000 acres of mountain parks and open space. The cameras detect motion, and capture still images and videos of animals in their natural habitat.
"The motion-detecting cameras provide us a unique opportunity to learn more about how local species use the landscape around us while minimizing our presence in sensitive habitats," said senior wildlife ecologist Will Keeley.
The cameras are sometimes positioned specifically to capture certain species, such as black bears or beavers. They help park staff see exactly how many animals are there, and monitor their behavior over days, weeks, months, and even years.
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