Bear goes crazy taking 400 selfies with wildlife camera!

brown bear in front of wildlife camera
A black bear in Colorado appeared on one motion-detecting camera roughly 400 times (Image credit: City of Boulder)

A beautiful black bear has recently gone viral after it stumbled upon a trail camera that the city of Boulder, Colorado in the United States uses to monitor wildlife across open space. Of the 580 photos captured on this particular camera in late 2022, 400 were actually bear "selfies".

Boulder Open Space and Mountain Parks (OSMP) posted some of the bear images on Twitter and the surprise selfie star soon got shared. The unintended black-and-white selfies have captured the hearts of news outlets around the world, including The Guardian and BBC News.

This photogenic bear appears to pause and pose in front of the trail camera, which came to life when the animal stepped in front of it. "At night, the cameras use infrared light to create photographs that minimize disturbances to nocturnal wildlife," OSMP says.

OSMP explains that it has nine wildlife cameras overall, covering 46,000 acres of land, and each camera helps the department to learn the behavior and whereabouts of the local wildlife species – without having to rely on staff to enter sensitive wildlife habitats, or disturbing the animals within them.

Remote trail cameras are one of the best ways to keep track of animals that would otherwise be too shy or difficult to capture using a normal camera for wildlife photography. Many nature photographers and organizations around the world use motion-activated cellular trail cameras to see what species are in a particular location, but usually, animals don't know that they're there.

"Wildlife cameras help us learn what animals are out there and what they're up to over the course of a day, a week, or even years. And sometimes, that means taking a bunch of selfies, just like us. Usually, animals just walk past our wildlife cameras, but this bear took the opportunity to take some selfies with it," adds the city's website.

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Lauren Scott
Managing Editor

Lauren is the Managing Editor of Digital Camera World, having previously served as Editor of Digital Photographer magazine, a practical-focused publication that inspires hobbyists and seasoned pros alike to take truly phenomenal shots and get the best results from their kit. 


An experienced photography journalist who has been covering the industry for over eight years, she has also served as technique editor for both PhotoPlus: The Canon MagazinePhotoPlus: The Canon Magazine and DCW's sister publication, Digital Camera Magazine


In addition to techniques and tutorials that enable you to achieve great results from your cameras, lenses, tripods and other photography equipment, Lauren can regularly be found interviewing some of the biggest names in the industry, sharing tips and guides on subjects like landscape and wildlife photography, and raising awareness for subjects such as mental health and women in photography.