{"id":16397,"date":"2026-08-12T23:07:50","date_gmt":"2026-08-12T23:07:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wildgreenquest.com\/?p=16397"},"modified":"2026-08-12T23:07:50","modified_gmt":"2026-08-12T23:07:50","slug":"is-it-a-pizzly-bear","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wildgreenquest.com\/?p=16397","title":{"rendered":"Is It a Pizzly Bear?"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div>\n<div class=\"justify-start\">\n<nav class=\"align-left col-span-full mb-base\" data-pom-e2e-test-id=\"breadcrumbs\"\/>\n<p>A silver-furred spring cub has captivated Katmai Bear Cam viewers. Experts explain the genetics behind the viral baby brown bear\u2014and why 2026 is seeing a record baby boom on the Brooks River. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"border-border-light border-t py-base-tight\">\n<div class=\"flex h-4 justify-between\">\n<div class=\"flex gap-x-base-tight\">\n<div class=\"\"><button class=\"inline-flex shrink-0 items-center justify-center rounded-full cursor-default bg-bg-surface hover:bg-bg-light focus:bg-bg-dark text-primary border border-solid border-border-light aria-pressed:bg-brand-primary aria-pressed:text-text-surface py-very-tight px-base-tight gap-tight font-semibold font-utility-2 opacity-50\" aria-label=\"Loading audio\" aria-pressed=\"false\" id=\"article-listen-button\" disabled=\"\"><svg xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" width=\"18\" height=\"18\" viewbox=\"0 0 18 18\" fill=\"none\" class=\"\"><title>Listen to this article<\/title><path d=\"M12.5265 16.2C12.2326 16.2 12.0122 16.1265 11.7184 16.053C11.2775 15.9061 10.9102 15.6122 10.6898 15.2449C10.4694 14.8775 10.3959 14.4367 10.5428 13.9959L11.5714 10.3959C11.6449 10.1755 11.7184 9.95509 11.8653 9.80815C12.0122 9.66121 12.1592 9.51427 12.3796 9.36733C12.6 9.29386 12.8204 9.2204 13.0408 9.14693C13.2612 9.14693 13.4816 9.14693 13.702 9.2204H13.7755C14.2163 9.36733 14.5837 9.58774 14.951 9.95509C14.951 9.66121 14.951 9.29386 14.951 8.99999C14.951 7.38366 14.2898 5.8408 13.1877 4.73876C12.0122 3.56325 10.5428 2.9755 8.92652 2.9755C7.31019 2.9755 5.76733 3.63672 4.66529 4.73876C3.48978 5.8408 2.82856 7.38366 2.82856 8.99999C2.82856 9.29386 2.82856 9.66121 2.82856 9.95509C3.12244 9.66121 3.56325 9.36733 4.00407 9.2204H4.07754C4.29795 9.14693 4.51835 9.14693 4.73876 9.14693C4.95917 9.14693 5.17958 9.2204 5.39999 9.36733C5.6204 9.4408 5.76733 9.58774 5.91427 9.80815C6.06121 9.95509 6.13468 10.1755 6.20815 10.3959L7.23672 13.9959C7.38366 14.4367 7.31019 14.8775 7.08978 15.2449C6.86938 15.6122 6.50203 15.9061 6.13468 16.053C5.76733 16.2 5.39999 16.2 5.03264 16.2C4.66529 16.1265 4.29795 16.053 4.00407 15.9061C3.63672 15.6122 3.41631 15.3918 3.12244 15.0979C2.90203 14.8775 2.75509 14.5102 2.68162 14.1428L2.38774 13.0408L2.2408 12.6735C2.2408 12.6 2.16733 12.453 2.16733 12.3796C1.87346 11.2775 1.79999 10.1755 1.79999 8.99999C1.79999 7.08978 2.53468 5.25305 3.9306 3.9306C5.25305 2.60815 7.08978 1.79999 8.99999 1.79999C10.9102 1.79999 12.7469 2.53468 14.0694 3.9306C15.3918 5.25305 16.2 7.08978 16.2 8.99999C16.2 10.102 16.053 11.2775 15.8326 12.3796C15.8326 12.453 15.7592 12.6 15.7592 12.6735L15.6857 12.9673V13.0408L15.1714 14.1428C15.0979 14.5102 14.8775 14.8041 14.6571 15.0979C14.4367 15.3918 14.1428 15.6122 13.849 15.7592C13.5551 15.9061 13.1877 16.053 12.8204 16.053C12.7469 16.1265 12.6735 16.2 12.5265 16.2ZM3.71019 13.849C3.78366 14.0694 3.85713 14.2163 4.00407 14.4367C4.15101 14.6571 4.29795 14.7306 4.51835 14.8775C4.73876 14.951 4.8857 15.0245 5.10611 15.0979C5.32652 15.0979 5.54693 15.0979 5.76733 15.0245C5.98774 14.951 6.06121 14.8775 6.13468 14.7306C6.20815 14.5837 6.20815 14.4367 6.20815 14.2898L5.17958 10.6898C5.17958 10.6163 5.10611 10.5428 5.10611 10.4694C5.03264 10.4694 4.95917 10.3959 4.8857 10.3224C4.81223 10.3224 4.73876 10.249 4.66529 10.249C4.59182 10.249 4.51836 10.249 4.44489 10.249H4.37142C3.9306 10.3959 3.63672 10.6898 3.41631 11.0571C3.26938 11.351 3.19591 11.7184 3.26938 12.0857C3.34285 12.3061 3.34284 12.5265 3.41631 12.6735L3.71019 13.849ZM13.2612 10.3224C13.1877 10.3224 13.1877 10.3224 13.2612 10.3224C13.1143 10.3224 13.0408 10.3224 12.9673 10.3959C12.8939 10.4694 12.8204 10.4694 12.8204 10.4694C12.7469 10.5428 12.7469 10.6163 12.7469 10.6898L11.7184 14.2898C11.6449 14.4367 11.7184 14.5837 11.7918 14.7306C11.8653 14.8775 12.0122 14.951 12.0857 15.0245C12.3796 15.0979 12.5265 15.0979 12.7469 15.0979C12.9673 15.0979 13.1877 15.0245 13.3347 14.8775C13.5551 14.8041 13.702 14.6571 13.849 14.4367C13.9959 14.2898 14.0694 14.0694 14.1428 13.849L14.5102 12.6735C14.5837 12.5265 14.5837 12.3061 14.6571 12.1592C14.7306 11.7918 14.6571 11.4245 14.5102 11.1306C14.2898 10.7633 13.9959 10.4694 13.5551 10.3224H13.4816C13.3347 10.3224 13.2612 10.3224 13.2612 10.3224Z\" fill=\"currentColor\"\/><\/svg><span class=\"hidden sm:inline\">Listen<\/span><\/button><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div><\/p>\n<p class=\"fp-leadCaption py-tight text-left font-utility text-utility3-size leading-utility3-line-height text-secondary\">The unusual coloring prompted some viewers to ask whether the cub was a \u201cpizzly,\u201d or polar bear-grizzly hybrid<!-- --> (Photo: Explore.org)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<div class=\"article-body\">\n<p>Published August 12, 2026 04:39PM<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>An adorable new star just debuted on the Katmai Bear Camera, the cameras that film brown bears inside Katmai National Park. And now, avid followers of the livestream from Brooks River\u2014the bears\u2019 favorite hunting ground\u2014cannot stop chatting about the bear camera\u2019s latest celebrity. Why? Because the bear in question has unusually colored fur that is indicative of a \u201cPizzly\u201d bear, a cross-breed between and polar and grizzly.<\/p>\n<p>A first-year cub with silvery fur first sauntered in front of the camera on July 22, 2026, in Katmai National Park and Preserve, Gordon Clagget, a spokesperson for the National Park Service Alaska office, told <em>Outside<\/em>.<\/p>\n<p>But Clagget and other experts aren\u2019t convinced that the bear is, indeed, the product of a grizzly-polar bear relationship.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe coloring is likely due to the bear\u2019s genetics,\u201d Clagget said. \u201cThere are many bears on the Brooks River, both male and female, with very blonde fur. This fur can get darker as the bear ages; we won\u2019t know for sure until the bear is fully grown.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Mike Fitz, a naturalist with the livestream service <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"article-content-link text-brand-primary underline hover:text-brand-primary\/85 break-words overflow-wrap-anywhere underline-offset-[3px]\" rel=\"noopener\" data-afl-p=\"0\" href=\"http:\/\/Explore.org\">Explore.org<\/a>, told <em>Outside<\/em> that Katmai is located too far south of the current polar bear range in Alaska for a polar bear and a grizzly to have mated. Fitz agrees with Clagget that the bear\u2019s odd coloring is likely due to genetics.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cTo my eyes, the cub does not show signs of leucism or albinism either,\u201d Fitz said. \u201cI think the cub\u2019s fur falls within the natural variation of fur color for brown bears in Katmai, just on the very blond end of that spectrum. Every few years at Brooks River, a young cub will arrive with similarly colored light blond fur.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Fitz estimates the cub, whose sex is not yet known, was born in spring and is now approximately six months old. Viewers reported the cub and its mother on the bear cams and tentatively identified the sow as Bear 677, an adult female who has frequented Brooks River since 2025.<\/p>\n<p>For more than a decade, viewers from around the world have tuned in to\u00a0the bear livestreams from cameras placed inside\u00a0Katmai National Park and Preserve in Alaska. Encompassing more than 4 million acres near Kodiak, Alaska, Katmai is the home of Fat Bear Week, an online tournament held in the fall where fans can vote in a March Madness-style bracket to crown the park\u2019s fattest grizzly. Bear 677 and her silver cub are part of a population of\u00a0legendary bears, like Grazer, Chunk, and Otis, the undisputed king of Fat Bear Week. Cubs, too, join in on the fat-bear craze. According to <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"article-content-link text-brand-primary underline hover:text-brand-primary\/85 break-words overflow-wrap-anywhere underline-offset-[3px]\" data-afl-p=\"0\" href=\"https:\/\/explore.org\/fat-bear-week-schedule\">Explore.org<\/a>, first-year cubs grow from one pound at birth in January to 70 or more pounds by October.<\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s possible, Fitz speculates, that the cub\u2019s coloring could provide it with some sort of adaptive benefit, such as better camouflage in low-light conditions.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cEither way, this doesn\u2019t necessarily mean that this cub faces greater risks or challenges to reach an age when they can be weaned. Food availability, mother\u2019s guidance, and mother\u2019s protection are likely to be far more important factors than fur color,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>The 1.5-mile-long Brooks River usually attracts one of the largest gatherings of brown bears anywhere, and Fitz said researchers have documented \u201cmore cubs than ever before\u201d this summer. As of August 10, Fitz says his group recorded over 18 families and 34 cubs, 28 of which were born this spring.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_2752250\" class=\"pom-image-wrap photo-alignnone\"><img loading=\"lazy\" alt=\"The silver cub (left) is pictured next to a larger, more traditionally colored brown bear\" loading=\"lazy\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1080\" decoding=\"async\" data-nimg=\"1\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-2752250\" style=\"color:transparent\" srcset=\"https:\/\/cdn.outsideonline.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/pizzly-2.jpg?width=1920&amp;auto=webp&amp;quality=75&amp;fit=cover 1x, https:\/\/cdn.outsideonline.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/pizzly-2.jpg?width=3840&amp;auto=webp&amp;quality=75&amp;fit=cover 2x\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.outsideonline.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/pizzly-2.jpg?width=3840&amp;auto=webp&amp;quality=75&amp;fit=cover\"\/><figcaption class=\"pom-caption\"><span class=\"article__caption\">The silver cub (left) is pictured next to a larger, more traditionally colored brown bear<\/span> (Photo: Explore.org)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>\u201cA gigantic salmon run arrived in 2025 at Brooks River along with many single female bears fishing the river,\u201d Fitz said. \u201cThe sheer abundance of food allowed those females to enter the den with ample fat to sustain the birth of their litters in mid-winter.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Brooks River has also been the site of\u00a0tragedy this summer. On July 28, the livecams captured a cub belonging to Bear 909 being killed and eaten by an unrelated sow, Bear 806. It\u2019s thought to be the first recorded example of infanticide near the Brooks River. Another female bear killed a second cub on August 2.<\/p>\n<p>This year, Fat Bear Week is taking place between September 22 and 29. We love the event so much that we even created a quiz to help you discover whether you\u2019re more like Flotato or Baby. And 2026 could mark an especially chunky year as well.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBear cubs are cute and fun to watch. More importantly, though, they are a sign of abundance,\u201d Fitz said. \u201cKatmai is a place home to some of the last great salmon runs left on Earth where the wealth of the landscape is measured through the gifts that salmon bring\u2013including the energy that bear mothers need to give birth to cubs.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><!-- --><span hidden=\"\" aria-hidden=\"true\"\/><\/div>\n<p><br \/>\n<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/www.outsideonline.com\/outdoor-adventure\/everest\/katmai-bear-cam-pizzly-silver-cub\/\">Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A silver-furred spring cub has captivated Katmai Bear Cam viewers. Experts explain the genetics behind the viral baby brown bear\u2014and why 2026 is seeing a record baby boom on the Brooks River. Listen to this articleListen The unusual coloring prompted some viewers to ask whether the cub was a \u201cpizzly,\u201d or polar bear-grizzly hybrid (Photo:<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":16398,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[35],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-16397","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-wild-living"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wildgreenquest.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16397","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wildgreenquest.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wildgreenquest.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wildgreenquest.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wildgreenquest.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=16397"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/wildgreenquest.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16397\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wildgreenquest.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/16398"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wildgreenquest.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=16397"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wildgreenquest.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=16397"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wildgreenquest.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=16397"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}