A curious bear has become the surprise star of wildlife cameras set up in Boulder, Colorado, taking hundreds of "selfies" in an apparent impromptu photoshoot, local officials said.
The city's Open Space and Mountain Parks team set out to track animals that live in the area using motion-capture cameras — but they were surprised to find that of 580 images captured by one camera, around 400 were of the same bear.
While the cameras often capture animals, including coyotes, beavers and black bears out in the wild, officials said most creatures don't typically notice the devices and just "walk on by." This particular bear, however, appeared to be captivated by the camera.
"In this instance, a bear took a special interest in one of our wildlife cameras and took the opportunity to capture hundreds of 'selfies,'" Phillip Yates, a spokesperson for Open Space and Mountain Parks, said in a statement Thursday.
"These pictures made us laugh, and we thought others would, too," Yates said.
The cameras are activated when they sense an animal stepping in front of them and the images are used to map wildlife areas and to “provide us with a unique opportunity to learn more about how local species use the landscape around us while minimizing our presence in sensitive habitats,” Yates said.
While officials may not have expected photoshoots to be among those uses, Yates said the images captured by the wildlife cameras can also be used to help recommend measures to protect important natural areas.
