Valtteri Mulkahainen, a physical education teacher from Sotkamo, Finland, has spent a lot of his spare time photographing wildlife. Valeri has been photographing the wild animals of his homeland for the past six years, capturing many magical moments along the way. This is a story about one of those people.
According to his itinerary, Valtteri had planned to travel to the Finnish taiga around the town of Martinselkonen on the 3rd of June, 2013. A brown bear with a few small cubs came into a clearing as the man was exploring the area, and the man was startled.
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Image credits: Valtteri Mulkahainen
Image credits: Valtteri Mulkahainen
“The bear cubs were acting like small children,” Valtteri said in an interview with Bored Panda. “They were having a good time and even got into a few friendly fights. I had the impression that I was on the playground in front of my house, where small children were frolicking. In another way, these adorable animals reminded me so much of small children. At one point, the three of them got up on their hind legs and began pushing each other around the room. I had the impression they were circling each other.”
Valtteri was in a good spot with his location in a shelter 50 meters (164 feet) away from the cute bear cub action and the perfect view. “I spent the entire evening and night photographing the cubs with the bear,” he explained.
Image credits: Valtteri Mulkahainen
Image credits: Valtteri Mulkahainen
Except for the land Islands, you can come face to face with a bear almost anywhere in Finland. The majority of them are found in the eastern part of the country and Lapland. Still, these majestic creatures can also be regularly found in the southern and western parts of the country.
Bears are agile and robust, as the cubs have demonstrated to us time and time again. They make excellent use of their forelegs, both for hunting and moving around. They’re also excellent swimmers and climbers, which is a bonus. On the surface, they appear to be the complete package.
Image credits: Valtteri Mulkahainen
Image credits: Valtteri Mulkahainen
However, the fact that Valtteri captured such beautiful images of his family is truly remarkable. Bears will typically try to stay as far away from humans as possible. Humans rarely come across them in the wild because they almost always flee as soon as they become aware of our presence on their territory. They are excellent at this game of hide and seek because they have keen senses and the ability to move silently.
After recent assessments by Finland’s Natural Resources Institute, it was estimated that there were between 2020 and 2130 bears in the country before the 2019 hunting season.
Image credits: Valtteri Mulkahainen
Image credits: Valtteri Mulkahainen
Image credits: Valtteri Mulkahainen
Image credits: Valtteri Mulkahainen
Image credits: Valtteri Mulkahainen
Image credits: Valtteri Mulkahainen
