Bear goes viral for taking 400 selfies on wildlife camera

If you’ve ever thought your selfie game is pretty strong, there’s some bad news for you: it will never be as strong as this bear’s is.

Dubbed “Selfie Bear”, the animal has gone viral for getting up close and personal with a wildlife-monitoring camera in Colorado, resulting in some 400 pictures.

The pictures were taken in November last year, but were re-shared by City of Boulder Open Space and Mountain Parks (OSMP) this week.

Bear selfie — Dubbed “Selfie Bear”, the animal has gone viral for getting up close and personal with a wildlife-monitoring camera in Colorado. (City of Boulder)

“Recently, a bear discovered a wildlife camera that we use to monitor wildlife across Boulder open space,” it said on Twitter.

“Of the 580 photos captured, about 400 were bear selfies.”

The organisation said on its website that animals mostly just walk past and ignore the cameras, nine of which it has set up to gather important information about wildlife, including what species are in the area.

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“The motion-detecting cameras provide us a unique opportunity to learn more about how local species use the landscape around us while minimizing our presence in sensitive habitats,” said Will Keeley, senior wildlife ecologist for Open Space and Mountain Parks, said last year.

“These cameras play an important role in helping OSMP staff identify important wildlife areas. The information we collect from them is used to recommend habitat-protective measures to help protect sensitive natural areas.”