On July 17, 2022 12:01 KNP&P tweeted:
"Bear 94 with her spring cubs sporting their in-season natal collars (the light patches of fur decorating a cubs neck). Though there's no particular reason for this coloring that we know of, we can't help ourselves from swooning over their cuteness!
Photo courtesy of T. Darling"
KNP&P's July 17, 2022 12:01 tweet with NPS photo courtesy of T. Darling of 94 with her 4 spring cubs
NPS photo only:
KNP&P's July 17, 2022 12:01 tweet with NPS photo courtesy of T. Darling of 94 with her 4 spring cubs (T. Darling's NPS photo only)
Mike Fitz, Resident Naturalist with Explore.org shared this information about natal collars on July 19, 2022 at 14:00 during a comment chat on the live chat board.:
"Natal collars are most commonly seen on first year cubs and they can retain the feature through their first summer as one of 236 Milkshake's cubs showed in 2010."
"Photo: A brown bear cub sniffs the earth at its feet. It has a prominent collar of lighter colored fur around its neck. NPS photo taken Sept. 9, 2010."
One of 236 Milkshake's spring cubs September 9, 2010 NPS photo provided by Mike Fitz (DLCB p 07/19/22 14:00)
"However, sometimes young subadult bears can have faint natal collars as bear 43 did in 2008."
"Photo: A brown bear stands in shallow water. A slightly lighter ring of fur can be seen in his neck and shoulder area. NPS photo taken Sept. 19, 2008."
43 on September 19, 2008 NPS photo provided by Mike Fitz, Resident Naturalist with Explore. org (p 07/19/2022 14:00)
"I suspect natal collars are an inherited trait rather than a response to something in the environment. It's unknown whether they serve any adaptive purpose. Mother is a cub's protection so the cubs needn't hide. To my eye the collars don't break up the cub's silhouette or provide camouflage. I'm unaware of any truly feasible hypotheses to explain the collar or if anyone is even studying them. Nevertheless, natal collars are beautiful feature of some bear cubs."
Mike Fitz may be onto something with his suspicion that natal collars are an inherited trait....
94, the 2022 sow with the 4 spring cubs that each have distinct natal collars, is believed to be the 2003 offspring of 236 Milkshake. 236 Milkshake's 2003 litter of 4 spring cubs sporting their in-season natal collars can be seen in this 2003 video by Eric Jones:
Bear cubs of the year playing and whining
236 Milkshake's 4 spring cubs sporting their in-season natal collars. 2003 video by Eric Jones
One of 236 Milkshake's four 2010 spring cubs with a natal collar can be seen in this September 2010 NPS photo from the 2012 Brown Bears of Brooks Camp iBook.:
236 Milkshake with 1 of 4 spring cubs September 2010 NPS photo 2012 Brown Bears of Brooks Camp iBook
608 is one of the 2000 offspring of 236 Milkshake (DNA confirmed); 608's natal collar remnants were still visible in October 2002 when 608 was a 2.5 year-old independent subadult.
2.5 year-old subadult 608 October 2002 NPS photo from the 2012 Brown Bears of Brooks River iBook
In 2007 608 was a 7.5 year-old adult female with 2 yearlings. This NPS photo of 608 from August 29, 2007 shows that even then a faint line of lighter-colored fur remained visible where her natal collar was. Photo of 608 provided by Mike Fitz, Resident Naturalist with Explore.org (p 07/21/22 20:46 DLCB).
7.5 year-old 608 with a faint line of lighter-colored fur where her natal collar was on August 29, 2007 NPS photo provided by Mike Fitz (p 07/21.2022 20:46 DLCB)