A Tale of Three Bears Planet Earth Live

Meet Sam, Sophie and Sybil, three black bear cubs.

They live with their mum, Juliet.

They're just three months old, tiny and vulnerable.

They rely entirely on Mum for survival.

I spent May in the Northwoods of Minnesota for Planet Earth Live...

BEAR GRUNTS

..following the cubs as their story unfolded.

-SHE WHISPERS

-And so vulnerable.

Just...oh, God...just so sweet.

These woods are full of danger and challenges.

Savage cold.

Weather that can turn in an instant.

Deadly predators.

Eagles, coyotes, wolves.

-And even forest fires.

-SIRENS WAIL

Mum, Juliet, has a battle on her hands to keep her three cubs safe.

This is Sam, Sophie and Sybil's story.

The cubs are born in mid-January.

The bears are all deep in hibernation.

Many females are pregnant.

They mated last year, fattened up in autumn,

and settled in their dens around September.

In January, temperatures can drop as low as -20 degrees Celsius.

The woods are buried under almost a metre of snow.

The females must conserve energy just to get through the winter.

And to give birth.

In mid January, mum, Juliet

welcomes Sam, Sophie and Sybil into the world.

BEARS CHATTER

Black bear cubs are born blind and helpless.

They each weigh less than half a kilogram.

The den is like a second womb.

It keeps them safe as they grow.

By around six weeks, their eyes are open,

and they've begun to crawl and explore.

Usually, they leave the den in May.

By then, they'll weigh ten times more than when they were born.

But in April, things go badly wrong for Sam, Sophie and Sybil.

Juliet's den is in a low-lying cedar bog.

Normally, the ground would stay frozen

until the cubs were ready to leave.

But spring this year is incredibly warm.

The snow begins to melt over a month earlier than usual.

WATER RUSHES

The den slowly fills with icy meltwater.

Juliet must evacuate her cubs.

For the triplets, this is the equivalent of a premature birth.

They're fragile and exposed.

Juliet must make a life or death decision.

She can wait by the den and hope that the water refreezes,

or move the tiny cubs to another site to see out the winter.

For the cubs, a wrong choice could be fatal.

Little Sybil is especially vulnerable.

She's the smallest and the weakest.

Her eyes have barely opened.

She hardly has the energy to move.

But Juliet's made her decision.

She's ten years old, an experienced mother.

She must find somewhere else to keep the cubs safe.

After five months with no food, this journey is exhausting for her.

For her tiny cubs, it's an almost unimaginable effort.

Finally, Juliet finds a spot.

She uses this as a day bed in the summer.

The overhanging branches will keep off the worst of the weather.

Fresh foliage makes the bed as comfortable as possible.

But there's not much about.

Exhausted, she collapses.

And the cubs enjoy a well-earned meal in their new home.

CUBS CHATTER

Juliet's decision has paid off.

For now.

Minnesota is nestled up on the Canadian border.

The state of 10,000 lakes.

In between the lakes are the Northwoods,

a mixed woodland of pines, firs, cedars and aspen.

It's home to over 20,000 black bears.

Biologist Lynn Rogers has studied the bears here for over 45 years.

He's developed some controversial and revolutionary methods.

For years, Lynn tranquilised bears to fit radio collars and track them.

Then he found a new a way.

He uses treats to gain the bears' trust.

No more tranquilisers.

It's good for the bears, and good for Lynn, too.

He and his researchers can now walk with the bears

and learn from them as they go about their daily lives.

BEAR SNIFFS

Thanks to his work, we can get these incredibly close

and intimate views of black bears.

When I arrived at the start of May, I was desperate to experience

some of these intimate views for myself.

I wanted to see how Sam, Sophie and Sybil were doing,

after their traumatic start to life.

Lynn took me straight out into the woods to find them.

TRACKER CLICKS

Let's see if she's there.

That way.

'I have to admit, I was nervous.

'It's not every day you walk up to a completely wild black bear

'with no protection.'

Let's see if she's there. Ah-ha!

I'm sorry, bear! I rushed up upon you!

You might be a little bit brave being here.

I've always heard, never get between a mother and her cubs,

but it takes more than a mother black bear to scare us.

Well, maybe it takes more to scare you,

-because you've been doing this for 45 years!

-THEY LAUGH QUIETLY

It's interesting...

-BEAR MOVES AND GRUNTS

-Ooh! Oh, God!

I'm sorry bear, what do you want?

You wonder what we're here for?

We think this is the only place in the world that we can come

and see a mother with cubs like this, have her sit and trust us.

-A WILD bear. Let's remember this.

-Yeah, yeah.

Mmm-hmm.

Mmm-hmm. Mmm-hmm.

Hello, Mrs Bear.

Nothing from me, I'm afraid.

BEAR HISSES

No.

I MEAN no.

SHE SIGHS

These aggressive looking charges are called blusters.

They don't mean the bear is about to attack.

She's just nervous, probably because I'm new.

-For me, this is scary stuff.

-BEAR SNARLS

But Lynn's been doing this for 45 years.

He's been blustered thousands of times,

and not once has a bear attacked him.

BEAR THUMPS HIDE

-SHE WHISPERS

-Where are those cubs?

They must be pretty high.

I wish they'd come down. Yeah.

'No cubs in sight. But Mum wasn't worried.

'So we took our cue from her, and sat down to wait.

'After 45 minutes, our patience paid off.'

-SHE WHISPERS

-Yeah, here we go.

-OK.

-Here we go.

I've never seen anything so cute!

'Sophie is bravest.

'She's first to climb down to join mum.'

-Oh!

-She's got them to wake up.

-SHE WHISPERS

-I can't believe I'm actually sitting

right here, just a few feet away from this...

adorable, vulnerable, beautiful creature.

Look, she's feeding.

'A few minutes later, Sam puts in an appearance.'

Someone else to join the party.

Is he the right size for his age, or should he be bigger?

He's doing OK, yeah.

He's doing OK.

'Finally, cautious little Sybil decides to join the family meal.'

Oh!

CUBS CHATTER

They're starting to nurse.

That little cheering hum.

That's the sound of nursing?

Yeah. That's the sound of a contented cub.

A comfortable cub.

Once the cubs have had their fill, it's time for a stretch,

and then play time.

BEARS YELP AND GROWL

That's what you call a bear hug!

As the exceptionally hot spring continues,

more bears take advantage of the warmth

to come out and forage.

But it's still early in the season,

and the bears are dangerously exposed.

Jewel is a three-year-old,

and a first-time mother.

She has two cubs, Herbie and Fern.

They're twins and inseparable.

Jewel has a decision to make.

Stay in the den, keeping the twins warm and safe,

or go out in search of food.

She hasn't eaten for six months.

She's famished.

She decides to leave the den,

taking Herbie and Fern with her.

She's a first-time mother,

so her decision is based on instinct rather than experience.

She has no way of knowing that the weather

has another surprise in store for them.

A cold front is approaching from the north,

bringing howling Arctic winds.

Winter has returned.

For Jewel, for Juliet, and especially for their cubs,

this could spell disaster.

Juliet has the advantage of experience.

As the snow starts to fall,

she keeps her cubs close to her body

so they benefit from her warmth.

As they suckle, she helps keep them dry

by licking the snow from their backs.

Just a few miles away, first-time mum, Jewel, is struggling.

She's stranded well away from her den with her cubs, Herbie and Fern.

The cubs' first reaction is instinctive.

They're faced with danger.

There's only one thing to do.

Herbie and Fern climb a tree.

It's a potentially catastrophic tactic.

Sticking closely together as always,

soon, both cubs are shivering with cold.

Up here, there's very little protection from the elements.

Their coats are quickly crusted in snow.

Down on the ground, their mother's body heat could help them keep warm.

Up here, their small bodies are struggling to generate enough heat.

They're shivering so hard they can barely hold on.

Eventually, Jewel seems to understand the situation.

She calls the cubs down.

SHE CLICKS AND CALLS

Herbie and Fern gingerly make their descent.

It's slow going in the cold.

A slip could kill them.

Jewel urgently needs to get the cubs close, warm them up,

and protect them from the storm.

But incredibly, instead she moves off,

leaving her frozen youngsters to struggle after her.

CUBS SQUEAL

At just three months old,

the cubs find walking on snow almost impossible.

Their paws are just too small, and sink into the drifts.

With the snow now deeper than the cubs are tall,

this is a dangerous world.

Worse, the cubs only have a single layer of fur.

They won't grow a second, insulating layer

until they go into hibernation in the autumn.

But autumn is a long way off for Herbie and Fern.

Without Jewel, they won't last the night.

But as darkness falls, there's still no sign of her.

Overnight, the temperature plummets to -12 degrees Celsius.

There's little hope the cubs will survive.

But as dawn breaks...

..relief.

Jewel hasn't abandoned the cubs.

She's led them to safety.

She's found a more sheltered spot.

Now she's keeping Herbie and Fern close and warm.

The snow storm has highlighted the difference that experience can make.

Jewel struggled in the storm,

though ultimately, her instincts were good.

But with three sets of cubs behind her,

Juliet has taken it in her stride.

So far this year, she's got everything right.

Her cubs are growing well,

and developing personalities of their own.

Sam, the lone boy, is boisterous and adventurous.

He's always on the look out for a scrap,

usually with the middle sister, Sophie.

But Sophie isn't afraid to fight back.

In fact, the two of them are almost inseparable.

Which means that Sybil,

the smallest and most vulnerable cub,

is often left out.

She's smaller and skinnier than the other two.

That puts her most at risk.

But without a den to protect them,

all the cubs are extremely vulnerable.

They'd make a tasty snack for any of the Northwoods' many predators.

These woods are rich hunting grounds.

There's plenty of potential prey.

A camera trap baited with a deer carcass

exposes some of the threats the cubs face.

CROWS CAW

The crows are first to arrive,

but their meal is soon disturbed.

A bald eagle.

They're immensely powerful,

easily strong enough to snatch and kill a cub.

But the biggest threats come out at night.

A red fox. Small but wily.

It could easily sneak up and grab a cub.

Coyotes are much larger.

For them, a bear cub is fair game.

Finally, the most dangerous of all.

A grey wolf.

There are around 3,000 wolves in Minnesota.

It's rare for a pack to attack a mother bear with cubs.

But if they find Sam, Sophie and Sybil alone,

our little friends won't stand a chance.

Luckily, bear cubs have a survival trick all of their own.

From the moment they leave the den, black bears can climb.

But when you're tiny, nothing is as easy as it looks.

One major challenge is working out

which trees are safe to scamper up.

Some are better than others.

This beauty is a red pine.

It's a nice mature tree,

and it looks as if it should be a good climber, but it's not.

Because the bark just peels away,

so the little claws would dig in...

..and then fall away.

So we've got a paper birch

right next door to a cedar here.

I'll show you why this is called the paper birch.

Look at that. So, not a great climbing tree,

and also quite slippy.

The cedar, on the other hand,

nice juicy, juicy trunk,

and you can get really good purchase on that.

That's a good climber.

And finally, this is actually

the perfect black bear climbing tree,

a mature white pine.

Look at the bark. Very sturdy and solid.

It doesn't come away at all.

So, imagine claws clinging into that.

And then, when you go up to the top, plenty of protection,

strong, sturdy branches, and protection

from the rain and from the sunshine for the cubs.

And you can see how protected you would be down here.

This is actually one of Juliet's day beds.

And look, it's been raining all morning... Perfectly dry.

Of course, it doesn't matter what kind of tree it is

if it's far too small.

Or if it's dead.

And even on the big trees,

the tough bit's getting down.

CUB YELPS

It's exhausting work for little legs.

But the cubs are bundles of energy,

and play is an important part of growing up.

CUBS YELP

Sam and Sophie play fight constantly.

These battles teach coordination, build muscle,

and establish a pecking order among the cubs.

Little Sybil tries to join in the fun,

but Sam and Sophie quickly reject her.

She's bottom of the pecking order,

even when the cubs are suckling.

Female black bears have three pairs of nipples.

The top pair provide more rich milk than the lower two pairs.

Thanks to their play fights, Sam and Sophie are stronger.

They always get the best meal.

CUBS CHATTER

When Sybil tries to barge in,

Sam bullies her into submission.

In this fight, it's every cub for themselves.

One in five cubs die in their first year.

Sybil is very much at risk.

Having three cubs improves Juliet's chances as a mum.

She may lose one, but two survivors is still a good year.

If all three survive, even better.

It all depends on whether Juliet can provide enough milk.

The milk's around 25% fat,

five times as rich as a cow's.

Producing it is a strain on Juliet's reserves.

To provide enough milk for three,

she must eat whenever she gets the chance.

But in these woods, it's tough to find enough food.

Lynn took me out to show me some items on the Black Bear menu.

If I were a bear coming along here

and there's ant pupae about,

I'd be sniffing this rock.

And if I smelled something,

I'd pull it over and be licking up

all the pupae and the larvae.

OK, nothing there, though.

They don't roll them back, but I do. JULIA LAUGHS

These look like juicy little morsels. What are they?

Oh, large leaf aster, and bears are eating those right now.

They only eat them when they're in this fuzzy stage, all curled up.

-This is when they taste good.

-Right.

-Tastes OK.

-OK.

-And here's something else right now.

-What's that?

HE LAUGHS Horse tail.

What does that taste like?

Not that good. SHE LAUGHS

Oh, here.

Here's something a bear would check for grubs.

They just tear into it like that.

And what sort of grubs are we looking for?

Beetle larvae.

But they would know if there's grubs in here.

They sniff it first, before they waste the energy.

They know their stuff, these bears, don't they?

Yeah! Yep.

So here's an aspen tree,

and if a bear was going to eat the leaves,

-which they eat at this time of the year...

-Yeah.

..they climb it and bring the tree down

and then they would strip the leaves

through their mouth...

SHE LAUGHS ..sideways, like that.

-Good bear!

-Yuck, I got the whole thing!

Shall we let this tree live?

-Yes.

-OK, I'm going to let it go.

-OK.

-OK?

-Yeah.

There we go.

As spring warms the woods,

more food begins to appear.

For Sam, Sophie, and Sybil, it's an important time.

They need to investigate all these foods for themselves.

Because exactly a year from now, when they're yearlings,

Juliet will kick them out to face life alone in the woods.

It's called family break up, and it's driven by one thing.

The need to mate.

Every year in May, the normally secretive males reappear.

They're looking for receptive females

and they'll fight to get access to them.

Males are hugely powerful. They can weigh up to 275 kilograms.

Fights like this can cause serious harm.

You might expect them to roar.

Instead, they honk.

BEARS HONK

For yearlings with receptive mothers,

the message is brutal and clear.

Beware.

Mum wants to mate.

She doesn't want cubs around.

Neither will the male.

But breaking up can be difficult.

Meet Aster and Aspen,

yearlings born to mother, June, last January.

At 18 months old, they're typical teenagers.

Boisterous, troublesome, but not yet independent.

Aster, the female, sticks close to mum.

She's gentle and inquisitive,

and still learning the tricks and trades of the woods.

Not always successfully.

Here she's come unstuck with red ants.

The male cub, Aspen, is more independent.

He's happy to head off on his own,

sometimes for hours on end.

But most of the time, both are content to stay close to June.

But she has other ideas.

June snaps, and Aspen is expelled.

This is the reality of family break up.

Aspen must now fend for himself,

and face the dangers of the woods alone.

But June still has Aster tagging along.

Rather than drive her away,

she tries to shake her off.

When Aster moves ahead, June makes her move.

When Aster realises she's alone, she backtracks.

She clearly doesn't want to be left alone.

Aster's going to be hard to shake.

June needs a new tactic.

Black bears have an incredible sense of smell.

Maybe June can lose Aster by hiding her scent trail.

But, persistent as ever,

Aster is in hot pursuit.

For now, June will have to put up with her daughter.

At least she's down to one.

Or so she thought.

An unexpected visitor.

Aspen rejoins the party.

After two days out on his own,

he's found his mum and sister again.

It's unusual for a bear to return after break up.

But instead of chasing him off again,

June seems to accept his presence.

And Aspen tries his hardest to ingratiate himself

back into the fold.

As June's yearlings struggle to accept their independence,

Juliet's young cubs are in danger of embracing it too early.

To provide milk for three hungry cubs, Juliet needs to feed.

There are no babysitters in these woods.

So she encourages Sam, Sophie and Sybil up a tree to keep them safe.

Left home alone,

it isn't long before the little bears start to misbehave.

Sophie and Sam quickly get bored of waiting and decide to explore.

Adventures are fun, but the woods are full of dangers,

and it's easy to get lost.

They climb a tree some distance from where Juliet left them.

They're out of sight.

Back by the first tree, Sybil is torn.

She's unsure whether to follow her siblings or wait for Mum.

She's alone on the forest floor,

exposed and very vulnerable.

She calls for help.

SHE SQUEALS

Juliet returns to find Sybil alone and distressed, but safe.

There's no sign of Sam and Sophie.

Juliet is faced with a dilemma. Rush off to look for them,

or wait by the tree where she left them.

SHE CALLS

She calls, but the cubs are either out of range,

or wilfully ignoring her.

Suddenly, they reappear

in a blur of black fur.

They race back towards Mum, and are safely reunited.

Clearly, these cubs are not yet as grown-up as they think they are.

Meanwhile, our camera trap has picked up its first male.

He's small and relatively immature,

but his arrival signals the start of the breeding season.

He's here for females, and the females are ready.

When a female comes into season, she needs to advertise her availability.

For black bears, that means scent marking.

There are three good ways to leave your mark in these woods.

First, tree rubbing.

You need to choose a good, prominent tree.

And then it's all about working hard to cover it in scent.

A small bite finishes the job,

and it's on to the second technique.

Cowboy walking.

Females have glands on their feet,

and rubbing each foot into the ground leaves a trail

for any prospective suitor.

The final method is a messy one.

Urinating.

They drag themselves over small trees

to leave a trail all across their territory.

Not very appealing to us,

but irresistible to male bears.

And it seems that our male from the camera trap

has picked up a scent,

and found himself a female.

Due to his small size,

this male wouldn't normally have a chance to mate.

This female seems impatient,

and our male doesn't have to be asked twice.

His small size causes a few logistical problems.

But with persistence and the odd leg up,

finally, he succeeds.

Mating over, the female grooms the young male.

With no yearlings around, she can afford to spend time with her man.

There's no such luck for June.

She's still got Aster and Aspen in tow.

At least she can continue giving her yearlings

the benefit of her experience.

But experience doesn't always pay.

There may be rich pickings along these verges,

but foraging here puts our bears at risk.

TRAFFIC RUMBLES

80% of bear deaths in Minnesota are caused by man.

Motor collisions,

the killing of nuisance bears...

..and hunting.

SHOT FIRES

Lynn has seen scores of bears

killed or injured by humans in his 45 years here.

When he takes a call saying a collared bear had been found,

he immediately fears the worst.

One of the bears he works with has been shot.

This is Jo. She was obviously shot.

See the blood on her tongue. There's a spot of blood up there.

She was, uh...a really good research bear.

Never hurt anybody.

Was just a gentle, gentle bear.

It's legal for a landowner to shoot a bear

if they feel that they or their property is under threat.

However, they must report the shooting within 48 hours.

No-one has come forward.

This shooting is illegal.

When black bears come into contact with people,

conflict is all but inevitable.

Lynn hopes his work will help people understand black bears better,

so that needless deaths can be avoided.

As spring gives way to summer,

Sam, Sophie, and Sybil continue to thrive.

But when temperatures top 30 degrees,

tearing around and play fighting aren't quite so much fun.

The only game in town is staying cool.

Juliet works hard to get rid of her winter coat.

When it gets really hot, a dip is irresistible.

But the heat is more than a nuisance.

Beneath the greenery, the hot spring has left the undergrowth tinder-dry.

The bears are now at risk.

From fire.

SIRENS WAIL

This is Highway 1.

Ely's over that's way in the west and you can see

the skyline behind me is full of smoke

and the skies are full of helicopters and aeroplanes.

A lot of police activity.

The locals are out trying to see what's going on.

What I don't know at this stage

is whether or not the fire's under control.

I can't believe it, here's a fire right at the edge of town.

There's a bad wind today that's carrying it into town.

They're talking about evacuating some of these houses.

I've never seen anything like this before.

There's a fire just south of Juliet's territory

and with this south wind, that means it's going to be blowing it

into her territory.

And, uh...she does have three cubs and they climb trees.

Fire fighters out west have told me

of hearing the shrieks of cubs as the tree burns up.

But the biggest worry is Juliet's inexperienced neighbour, Jewel.

The scent of smoke is everywhere.

Terrified, Jewel has done exactly what Lynn fears most.

She's taken little Herbie and Fern up a tree for protection.

As the cubs scamper around, unaware of the danger,

Jewel nervously sniffs the air.

If the fire comes this way,

the decision to climb a tree could be her last.

And spell the end for all of them.

The fire spreads rapidly.

The emergency services must work tirelessly to contain the blaze.

Each water plane and helicopter scoops up 7,500 litres of water

and dumps it ahead of the fire to slow its spread.

Whoa!

After 48 exhausting hours, the fire services manage to contain the fire.

It's devastated a massive swathe of forest.

But Herbie and Fern are in luck.

The fire didn't spread to Jewel's territory.

All three are in one piece.

For the cubs, it's as if nothing has happened.

For Jewel, it's another valuable lesson in motherhood.

Just a few miles away, Juliet was unfazed by the fire.

With such an experienced mum,

Sam, Sophie, and Sybil have had a good start in life.

For them, the summer beckons.

And with May nearly over,

it's almost time for me to leave the woods,

but not before one last visit

to Juliet, Sam, Sophie, and Sybil.

So here we are wondering where the cubs might be.

Silly me! Right at the top of that tree.

Look at those little bundles!

They're safe.

Look at this!

Sam, Sybil, Sophie, hello! Aw!

I mean, when they come down that readily,

when the mother returns to the base of the tree,

it could mean nursing time.

And she's sat down and starting to lean back.

OK. There we go. Look at that, look at that!

Lynn knew exactly when that was coming.

-CUBS CHATTER

-Ah, there's that noise!

And they've all got their nipple order sorted out.

Yeah, see how they're not fighting?

Sam, who was the most agile early on, has got the hind set.

I'm surprised to see that.

The two females have got the best ones.

I can't understand it,

but that's why we do research!

Look at this little one, right by us. Right by us.

Hello! Hello, Sybil.

Peek-a-boo! They're playing with us.

Oh, look! Look at Sam taking a ride!

Ooh! She doesn't like it!

SHE LAUGHS

We've been so incredibly lucky with this family of bears.

We've seen some very, very special moments between them but this...

..this is incredible.

Since we finished filming,

Sam, Sophie, and Sybil have continued to thrive.

Sam is still a cheeky chap.

Adventurous, but also a bit of a mummy's boy.

He and Sophie are still close,

the best of buddies through and through.

Sybil is still left out,

but seems content, happy to play on her own.

This independence may well leave her in the best position,

come family break up next year.

Juliet has seen them through the toughest period

they're ever likely to face,

and all three have had the best possible start

to their life in the Northwoods.

Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd