Please note this is a guide for the original exhibition at the museum.
Photo exhibition “Our Neighbour – The Brown Bear”
The exhibition features 26 photographs taken by Estonian photographers that reveal the life of the brown bear, Ursus arctos (also called “bear” in the exhibition texts), in the wild in Estonia. The selected works uniquely unveil the bears’ way of life and natural behaviour in the wild, allowing us to better understand and become more knowledgeable about the animal.
The photographs are accompanied by the photographers’ observations as well as by comments by specialists from the Latvian National Museum of Natural History and the Latvian State Forest Research Institute “Silava” (LSFRI Silava).
Most of the pictures were taken by experienced nature photographers, nature guides, and hunters; special recognition goes to Ingmar Muusikus, Kalmer Lehepuu, Remo Savisaar, Tarmo Mikussaar and Sven Začek. The photos were shot following a responsible and ethical code of conduct, i.e. they were taken from either hides or at safe distances to avoid putting both people and animals at immediate or potential risk. The exhibition also includes photos taken by camera traps.
In Latvia, the bear is no longer just a visitor to the north-eastern borderlands. After a hundred years, the species has returned and is now gradually gaining a foothold in the local fauna. The exhibition features video footage from 2021, as captured by LSFRI Silava researchers, of a mother bear and four cubs, proving beyond doubt that cubs are being born in the territory of Latvia.
The exhibition invites you to consider whether and how humans have changed over these hundred years. As the bears return, public education must increasingly become a priority so as to dispel myths, reduce the risks of mismanagement, ensure the protection of the species, and ensure the sustainable coexistence of people and bears. In cooperation with the Nature Conservation Agency, the exhibition provides information on recommended behaviour when encountering bears in the wild, as well as lets visitors learn about the sad story of a young bear who had been habituated to humans.
The exhibition is complemented by LSFRI Silava information on brown bear protection, monitoring and occurrence, as well as FAQs regarding bears and recommendations for amateur nature photographers. Photos of field work give a glimpse into the bear researchers’ lives. Anyone can report bear tracks and other evidence of bears in the wild. To ensure that your information is scientifically viable, the exhibition offers advice on how to correctly prepare the data you’ve collected.
A highlighted feature of the exhibition are the winners of the “Our Neighbour – The Brown Bear” photo competition, which took place in Estonia and Latvia in 2022.
The authors of the exhibition emphasise that in Estonia, public awareness and knowledge of wild bears is still at a much higher level than in Latvia.
Exhibition organisers: the Latvian National Museum of Natural History, in collaboration with the Latvian State Forest Research Institute “Silava” and the Nature Conservation Agency.
Special thanks to the Estonian environmental NGO "Animal of the Year" (MTÜ Aasta loom), and personally, to Helen Arusoo.
Photo - Alvin Tarkmees
Photo - Alvin Tarkmees
Alvin Tarkmees
Sensing danger or observing its surroundings, a bear quickly rises on its hind legs to get a better view of what's going on.
Ida-Viru County. Lüganuse Parish. Photographed from a hide in 2022.
Bears have rather good eyesight, but it is the least developed of all the senses. Bears can distinguish colours, which helps in foraging berries and fruit.
When a bear spots another animal or object that it cannot clearly discern, it rises on its hind legs. When you are out in nature and spot a bear, you should not hide but be directly visible to the bear and calmly move away, giving it the opportunity to understand that there is no immediate danger and that it is safe for it to leave the area. This posture – standing on its hind legs – does not necessarily mean that the bear will attack. Since it cannot see very well into the distance, it gets up on its hind legs to assess the situation.
However, bears do also rise to their hind legs during fights, just before an attack.
Two young bears at the Alam-Pedja Nature Reserve. Taken at sunset (in backlight), without the use of a hide.
Bears do not have a distinct circadian rhythm. They become more active during the night due to human disturbance. In Latvia, bears have been observed at all times of the day.
Bears are omnivores, foraging mainly by collecting food from the ground or digging it out of topsoil and dead undergrowth, stripping the bark from stumps and dead trees, and collecting shoots from herbaceous plants and woody plants. They eat berries, mushrooms, nuts, insects (especially ants), and the eggs and young of ground-nesting birds. They may also eat carrion. The wild bears in Latvia and Estonia have plenty of food reserves in nature. On rare occasions, they may attack livestock and poultry.
A treat inside a spruce hollow – bees! A few years ago I found a spruce tree inhabited by a swarm of bees. A bear had wanted to get at the bee brood – it tried to get in from all sides, made a hole in the bottom, and then tore the entrance wider. There were wood-chips everywhere, the tree was damaged, and there was a lingering smell of sweet honey in the air, yet the bear had not gotten to its desired dessert. The following year, however, that bear (or maybe another one) had finished the job.
Järva County, Paide
Bears do like honey. When a bear senses the smell of a wild bee hive in, for instance, a tree hollow, it tries to reach it to feast on larvae, pollen, wax and honey. With the recovery of the bear population in Latvia, beekeeping is the sector being most affected by bear damage. The experience of Estonia, home to around 1000 bears, indicates that the problem will likely become more acute. Damage to beekeeping occurs mainly during night.
Just don’t step in it! Bears like berries – they know what is good.
Lääne-Viru County, the village of Palasi
The shape, colour and consistency of bear excrement piles can vary greatly depending on the food eaten. The bear's digestive system lacks the appendix of the caecum characteristic of herbivores, so plant food is not fully digested and plant food residue is often visible in the faeces.
Droppings. We can have an idea of what the bear has been feeding on during springtime, simply by looking at its faeces. The presence of spruce needles and the black colour of the faeces indicate that the bear has visited an anthill; animal hair reveals that the bear has either found carrion or hunted an animal.
Järvamaa County, Järva Parish
Ants are a particularly important food in spring, when other sources are scarce. Low temperatures make ants sedentary and they concentrate in the upper part of the anthill, where they are easily accessible to bears.
The bear had probably been fighting – its snout was bloody.
Ida-Viru County, bear-watching hide.
Bears are territorial animals, solitary except when mating and when sows are rearing young. They mark their chosen area with urine, by stripping bark, and by rubbing their scent along the trunk of a tree. They also leave a scent in their tracks, which another bear can easily identify with its exceptional sense of smell. Although individual territories are marked, they often overlap. Sensitive to the presence of strange bears during the rut, males are relatively aggressive with each other. The size of the area occupied is determined by the availability of food and the density of the bear population.
A morning swim. One morning in June, I was lucky enough to see a bear in the very first forest area I had entered for a photo hunt! But I did not capture the encounter in a photograph. Two hours later, in a completely different area, I met the bear again! To see this magnificent animal with your own eyes and watch it in action 20 m away is an indescribable experience. Later, when the bear disappeared from sight, I wondered where it might go next. Knowing the area and having chased tracks for years, I had an idea where the animal would go. And sure enough... 10 minutes later, I found the bear again! The bear was taking its morning swim near the beaver dam.
Tartu County, Peipsiääre Parish
Bears like water. They are good swimmers and enjoy bathing in water.
I prepared a photo-trap and waited for a lynx or a wolf to cross the river, but a bear came instead. A bear also works for me, of course. It looked as if the bear did not appreciate getting wet.
At the beginning of November, I found some broken young spruce trees near the village of Koordi in Järva County. The work of a bear! Judging by the tracks, a big male. Broken trees mark a bear’s territory, and when this happens in November, it means that the bear has settled nearby for hibernation. Unfortunately, just a few days later, that area in the forest began to undergo logging and the bear was forced to abandon his plan.
Bears are not deep hibernators, but they usually spend the period from late November to March snoozing in a den. Females (sows) usually have two to three cubs every two or three years in January – February. Together with their mother, the cubs leave the den around April or May.
Bears hibernate in undisturbed areas of forest, coppices, overgrown clearings, marsh edges, or near a ditch. The den is created under fallen trees or branches. If a bear chooses a more open space for its den, it will dig a small pit and line its bottom with spruce branches and moss. These pit dens are usually more circular than, for example, a wild boar's den, which is elongated. The bear makes its own roof over the pit from broken fir trees and other nearby trees, which is then covered and insulated with a blanket of snow in winter. Broken and gnawed fir trees may indicate the proximity of a bear den.
A bear awakened by hunting or forest work is usually still able to establish a new den and continue its winter sleep.
A bear tracker’s felt boots next to the the tracks of a bear and a wolf. Searching for the first waking animal tracks in the last spring snow is a very exciting activity. Where did it come from and where did it go? How big of a trail has it left? And what else has gone the same way? Good old felt boots are the perfect footwear for tracking because they don’t make any noise even when walking on crunchy snow.
Järvamaa County, Järva Parish
The width and length of a bear's forepaw print are almost the same, and claw marks are clearly visible. The hind paw print is slightly similar in shape to that of a bare human foot, and claw marks are often not visible.
The size of the forelegs can be used to determine the age group and approximate weight of the bear. The 18-cm footprint in the picture indicates that the animal is an adult and weighs around 300 kg.
The footprints of a bear are very distinct and cannot be mistaken for those of other animals! Most often, the tracks of an adult badger are misidentified as those of a bear. This is why it is important to indicate the scale of the footprint when making photos. Measure the distance between the claws marks and the foot pad, as well as the length of the animal’s stride.
It's always exciting to see animal tracks on a muddy forest road. You can figure out what came this way and when. I looked at these tracks in bewilderment – they must have been left by a huge bear, as the the width of the footprint was about 18 cm.
Ida-Viru County, village of Piilse
The width and length of a bear's forepaw print are almost the same, and claw marks are clearly visible. The hind paw print is slightly similar in shape to that of a bare human foot, and claw marks are often not visible.
The size of the forelegs can be used to determine the age group and approximate weight of the bear. The 18-cm footprint in the picture indicates that the animal is an adult and weighs around 300 kg.
The footprints of a bear are very distinct and cannot be mistaken for those of other animals! Most often, the tracks of an adult badger are misidentified as those of a bear. This is why it is important to indicate the scale of the footprint when making photos. Measure the distance between the claws marks and the foot pad, as well as the length of the animal’s stride.
A bear on the ice. A week before, an elk hunt had taken place on this edge of the bog, but it did not wake the bear. However, logging did bring the bear out of its slumber and made it shuffle off before Christmas. Knowing how many bears there are and how much forest is being logged, it is not hard to imagine that the winter’s sleep of quite a few bears is being disturbed. There was still no snow before Christmas, but the puddles and ditches had frozen. The ice was so thick that it could bear the weight of the large bear! Once it had snowed, I went to have a look around, but I didn't see any bear tracks. Perhaps it had finally found a calmer place where it could sleep until spring.
Järva County, Paide
Bears are sensitive to disturbance during their winter sleep – if disturbed, they can quickly leave the den. A bear that has not fattened up and built up fat reserves in autumn may wake up and leave its den to forage, especially when the weather is warmer or there is a thaw. It is believed that a bear may wake up if it sniffs approaching potential food, such as elk.
Females that have given birth to cubs are particularly adversely affected during hibernation. If disturbed, she will flee, will not defend her young, and will not return to the den.
The climbing tree. From time to time, in marshes, bogs or drained forests, you’ll spot pine trees bearing deep bear claw marks in the bark. These are usually a few favourite trees – mostly pines with strong strong tops – that bears climb year after year. Judging by the scratch-marks, it is not young bears playing but adults. The trail of scratches shows that the bear has climbed to the very top to find the young and still fresh sapwood under the tree bark. It seems that bears practise this sport in early spring, when there is not much to eat. Sapwood is rich in sugar and nutrients and was also used by Finno-Ugric peoples for food in times of famine.
Järvamaa County, village of Lõõla
The main indirect indications of a bear in the wild are its tracks, faeces, and claw scratches on tree trunks. These “messages” left behind are picked up by other bears by smell. Claw scratches on the trunks of trees, most often pines and especially apple trees in autumn, can also indicate that a bear has climbed the tree.
At times I thought I was the only person in Estonia who hadn't seen a bear. For more than a decade, I had gone into the forest hoping to see a bear, but I never did. Finally, in 2020, I saw three. Hopefully, I won't have to wait so long for the next one.
Valga County
Bears are polygamous, mating in June–July. The gestation period for a bear is about seven months. Bear cubs born in the winter feed on their mother’s milk for about five months. The cubs grow slowly and reach the maximum size of an adult bear at the age of eight to ten years. Young bears live with their mother until they are two years old. After that, they leave their mother and go in search of territory, reaching sexual maturity at the age of five to eight years.
Mortality of cubs is high in the first year of life.
Male bears (boars) do not take part in rearing the cubs and live alone. There have been incidents of a mature boar wandering into new territory and killing the cubs.
Because of its large body size, the bear has no natural enemies apart from other bears. The bear is a carnivore whose diet varies according to season and food availability. In spring in particular, ungulates such as roe deer and elk (especially young or emaciated animals), and rarely wild boar, can become bear prey. Bears will also hunt beavers.
A bear’s paw. When your belly is full, you can sit back and rest (and clean) your paws. As there were quite a few individuals sleeping in the pines of the bog, I could see their different styles of sleeping/resting. Some lay on their backs, some on their stomachs; some stretched out their front legs, others – their hind legs. This young bear raised her hind paw for a moment, as if in greeting. There is something very human about the posture and behaviour of a snoozing bear.
Järvamaa County, Järva Parish. Photographed without the use of a hide.
In Europe, bears do not attack in non-self-defence situations because they perceive humans as a potential threat to be avoided. A mother bear usually scares people away with growls and short runs when defending her cubs, rather than attacking directly. It can be dangerous if a person is caught between a mother bear and her cubs. An injured bear can be extremely dangerous.
While one cub was wondering whether the crackling noise coming from the little mound was suspicious or not, the other cub scampered off. After all, mom always said – better safe than sorry!
Ida-Viru County, Alutaguse forest district
The bear population in Estonia and Latvia is mostly dark-brown in colour. In the first year of life, a cub has either a white patch on the front of its neck or a full ring – a natal collar – of lighter fur. As the cub grows up, the natal collar fades yet still stays lighter in shade than the rest of the bear’s fur.
The bear population in Estonia and Latvia is mostly dark-brown in colour. In the first year of life, a cub have has either a white patch on the front of its neck or a full ring – a natal collar – of lighter fur. As the cub grows up, the natal collar fades yet still stays lighter in shade than the rest of the bear’s fur.
A young bear stands behind a tree and wonders – should I run? I stood as frozen as a pillar of salt, so there was no need for the bear to flee. It eventually lost interest, and I could slowly back away.
Climbing down a tree. Near the Alam-Pedja Nature Reserve, I ran into two young bears. I got scared, they got scared – and they climbed up a tree. I backed off a bit and watched them for a while. There they were, both coming down the trunk at such speed that pieces of bark were flying through the air. It was a magnificent sight!
Instinct drives cubs and young bears to climb trees. Compared to an adult boar, which can weigh more than 300 kg, young bears are lighter and more agile, and a tree can be a safe haven in case of danger.
To hug a tree. A young bear had laid down for a late-morning nap in the marsh tea growing under pine saplings in the bog. Awakened and still sleepy, it wanted to see better what lay beyond. It rose up on its hind legs for a moment, as if looking for support against the trunk. That’s why the long claws of its forepaw are so clearly visible.
Järvamaa County, Järva Parish. Photographed without the use of a hide.
I’d like to fly... The young bear could daydream undisturbed – until the older bear showed up.
Ida-Viru County. Alutaguse bear-watching hide.
Bears have an exceptional sense of smell, surpassing that of most of other mammals. A bear can smell a rotting carcass up to 3 km away. Its great sense of smell also helps to detect territory marked by another bear. Bears do not have whiskers.
In nature, national borders do not exist. We have ‘visitors’ from Estonia and Russia, as well as bears born in Latvia. As the bear population in Latvia recovers, it will become more likely to see a bear's footprints in nature. However, it will still be hard to meet the animal itself as they evade people - just as other wild animals do.
Nevertheless, if you come across the bear:
do not go close, try to touch the animal or its cubs;
don’t turn you back to it, instead slowly back-away;
leave as soon as possible while keeping the animal in your eyesight. But don’t run;
be quiet until the bruin goes in his own way.
A bear that is not used to human interaction will not come close but if the bear is used to foraging intentional (or unintentional) food leftovers, it is less fearful of humans and can thus become dangerous.
There are enough food sources for bears in the Latvian wilderness, so they are satiated and maintain healthy fat stores for the wintertime.
To avoid attracting a bear:
do not feed it;
do not leave leftover food in nature to prevent a bear from approaching human routes;
do not create compost near the forests in the vicinity of residential areas.
Unfortunately, 'rescuing' healthy bear cubs or seemingly abandoned bears by feeding them or carrying them home can become lethal for the animals. When accustomed to human feed, they cannot survive independently in nature and can become a threat to the people themselves.
Proof of this is the fate of two young bear cubs in Latvia. Most likely tamed and later released into freedom, the animals became audacious. In August 2021, the bears had been spotted in the woods near Valka, and they even followed locals who were picking berries and mushrooms. In September, in the search for food in the vicinity of people, these same bears were found in courtyards and inside houses.
In order to help the locals, at first a deterrence plan* was implemented by using light and noise munitions. However, this did not produce the expected results: the young bears continued to be near people and developed the necessary survival skills for such circumstances and, subsequently, lowered their fear threshold.
In the hope that species-specific behaviour of bears would return after winter hibernation, in October, a separation method was applied next – the animals were captured, separated from each other and moved away from populated areas to places deep in the forest. In the process, DNA samples were taken from both bears and identification numbers-i.e. an ear tags- were attached to their ears. After DNA research, one of the young is known to be male and the other – female.
In April 2022, according to the ear-tag, the male bear was regularly observed on the roadside in the county of Gulbene. Because of that, in a short period of time the bear became an easy-to-access entertainment, and, unfortunately, some people seized the opportunity to see the bear by driving to the site and purposefully feeding it, including candy and chips.
Unfortunately, to prevent the dangers that could be caused by a bear that is not afraid of humans, anthropogenic noises and is habituated to feeding, the animal had to be put down.
After euthanasiation, the vets performed a section that revealed that the bear suffered from a stomach ulcer and had an inflamed intestinal tract. Such diseases expose animals to long-suffering and a slow death. By dissecting its stomach content, it was evident that lately the bear’s diet had consisted of products unsuitable for any animal – including cigarette butts. Unfortunately, there was also a plastic bag that had been stuck in the intestines.
Plastic shopping bag found in the euthanized bear's stomach. Photo - Nature Conservation Agency
The placement of bears in captivity in the nature trails of Ligatne or the National Zoo of Riga was not possible because there are no free enclosures for the reception of new bears in any of the institutions mentioned. Bears are very territorial, thus, they cannot be placed in a shared enclosure. Such an allocation would end tragically for either of animals. Based on a detailed calculation, the construction of another enclosure (including all safety and welfare requirements) would cost approximately 0.5 million euros, with additional costs of fostering the bear— the feed, veterinary expenses, tending to the animal, etc. — for over 30 years.
No information has been received about the second bear. It may have migrated across the border, where it might have succeeded in acquiring skills for survival in the wild.
The euthanized bear is now a part of the Latvian National Museum of Natural History Zoological Collection.
If an audacious bear with an atypical behaviour is encountered in nature, we call for reporting to info@daba.gov.lv.
*The work was coordinated by the Nature Conservation Agency (DAP) in autumn of 2021 and spring 2022, in cooperation with leading scientists, hunting specialists and representatives of the non-governmental sector, as well as by identifying the experiences of Estonia, Germany, Canada and other countries.
Answers Latvian State Forest Research Institute “Silava”.
How many bears are there in Latvia? Following the 2021 monitoring data, there are currently around 60-70 bears in the Latvian wild.
When will the bears be in Kurzeme? Although the bears are mostly staying within in Vidzeme, Latgale and now in Selia, there are no significant natural or man-made barriers that would prevent them from migrating forward and inhabiting Kurzeme too. With a growing population, it's only a matter of time when bears will seek new areas. There were three reports of bear sightings in Kurzeme in 2021.
Is it true that bears are not wintering in Latvia? We have found bear’s den in Latvia and there have even been cases where a bear has been disturbed during logging and hunting in winter, and thus it has quickly abandoned its den - so this statement is false. The first verified report of a bear's den in Latvia was dated in 2005.
Are the bears breeding in Latvia? Yes, they are breeding in Latvia! One of the greatest achievements of 2021 monitoring with trail cameras was a video footage of a female bear with four juveniles born in the same year in May, which points to the fact that these bears were born in Latvia. It was possible to follow the life of this family until the late autumn as they lived in ‘Riga Forests’ Ltd., Catherine's forestry forests in Viļķene parish.
Nature photography has always been an enticing way to spend one’s spare time. As the technologies, knowledge and skills develop, nature photography has become more and more accessible to the general public.
Are you passionate about nature photography?
Latvian State Forest Research Institute “Silava” recommends:
We call on all natural photographers-amateurs to adhere to the code of conduct to avoid risks posed by this hobby to photographers and wildlife:
When you are getting closer to the animal to get the best photo – you threaten yourself!
When feeding animals for photography purposes, you:
threaten yourself;
threaten other people with whom the animals may subsequently come into contact;
threaten the animal itself, because you damage his future survival by changing his natural habits!
