Brown Bear Emerges Early in Alutaguse – Captured by Latvian Nature Photographer
Reports of the first brown bear tracks in the snow across Estonia began appearing already in late February this year. Normally, Alutaguse bears wake from hibernation a couple of weeks later than the national average, but the unusually fast arrival of spring has changed the timing.
Just a few days after the first bear tracks were discovered elsewhere in Estonia, a brown bear appeared at the Alutaguse wildlife observation hides.
At the time, Latvian nature photographer Dmitrij Mihejev was visiting the hides with a completely different goal – photographing eagles. Instead, nature had another surprise in store.
During his stay, Mihejev successfully photographed both a White‑tailed Eagle and a Golden Eagle, but the highlight of the visit turned out to be an Alutaguse brown bear that had just awakened from winter hibernation.
The encounter provided a rare early-spring moment for wildlife photography and offered a fascinating glimpse into the start of the brown bear watching season in Alutaguse, Estonia.
With spring arriving earlier than usual, bear activity in the forests of eastern Estonia is beginning sooner, raising excitement among wildlife enthusiasts and photographers planning their brown bear watching trips in Alutaguse this season.
