To protect their little cubs from aggressive male bears, mother bears in Northern Europe have devised a remarkable strategy to ensure their offspring’s safety: they “mate” as much as possible and with as many males as they can.
Researchers at the Institute of Integrative Biology at the University of Vienna (Austria) conducted a study over 20 years focusing on brown bears in Northern Europe. During the mating season from May to July, male bears driven by a singular urge have one idea in mind: to mate with as many female bears as possible. Meanwhile, the female bears that already have cubs are unwilling to “engage” in mating. In their frustration over being rejected by these females, male bears often attack and kill the cubs of the females as an act of revenge.
From these painful experiences, mother bears have developed a strategy that goes against the “laws of nature,” wherein they actively seek to “mate” with as many males as possible. This way, the males will assume they are the fathers of the cubs and will refrain from attacking them.
According to a report recently published in a scientific journal in Austria, 54% of mother bears have employed this “remarkable” strategy to ensure the survival of their young.
