First bear cubs arrived to Bear Kuusamo
First Bear Cubs Have Arrived at Bear Kuusamo with Their Mum
Every summer, we get to see tiny bear cubs in Bear Kuusamo – but we never know when the first litter arrives! This year, a brave mum bear brought her three cubs to our bear watching place, Kuntilampi, on the 9th of June. Best news: the bear family has been visiting us every evening now for a week!
How’s Life for the Little Bear Cubs
The tiny bear cubs have been born in the winter den in January-February, so they are now less than 5 months old. They’re curious, adorable, and a bit foolish, learning new skills every day. Cubs learn everything from mum: what foods to find and where, how to stay safe, and how to behave when there might be other bears around. Whenever mum senses a threat (a raven calling for a bear, a scent of human or another bear approaching, etc.), it commands the cubs to climb a tree and will then protect the tree.
The little bear cubs learn to be alert at all times, so they’re standing up constantly to estimate dangers, as they can hear and smell better when standing. Cubs also run away easily, jump against trees when scared, and climb up if even more scared – and then return shyly and hesitantly to mum’s company. Their natural, jumpy behaviour creates memorable moments for bear watching and photography.
How to See the Bear Cubs in Finland
Midsummer is usually the best time to see the bear cubs in Finland, because by then the bear mating season ends, and females are brave enough to bring their cubs to our bear watching hides.
Our bear population is very human-shy, so if you want to see the bear cubs in a natural setting, booking a bear-watching evening (or whole night under midnight sun) is basically the only way to see them – unless you get extremely lucky while hiking. Most Finns have never seen a bear in nature – that tells you how much they avoid people. Mums are obviously even more skittish to protect their little ones.
We have three bear-watching sites near Lapland in northern Finland. By far, the bear family has only visited our main bear-watching site, Kuntilampi, where we have five bear hides.
We welcome you to Bear Kuusamo to see and photograph the bear cubs with us!
Karhu-Kuusamo is now Bear Kuusamo
Karhu-Kuusamo is now Bear Kuusamo – new website and visual identity
We changed our name to Bear Kuusamo to attract more international visitors. At the same time, we renewed our identity and website. Please let us know whether you like “the new us”!
The Bear Kuusamo logo and new website reflect our 20-year journey as a pioneer of bear watching in Kuusamo. We also added extensive background information to the site for tourists planning to see bears in Finland, as well as introductions to the hides. We’re proudly branding ourselves as a responsible bear watching operator and shedding light on the practices that are essential for the long-term well-being of the Finnish brown bear population.
We have also translated the whole website into Italian, Spanish, French, German, and Dutch. The EU Rural Development Fund, through the Koillismaa Leader Group, funded the internationalization of our website.
Bear Kuusamo’s bear watching season starts 1.5.2026. The whole summer and autumn are already bookable on our website.
Please ask more if you have any questions, and we warmly welcome you to see the bears in Kuusamo this year!
Pekka Veteläinen & Bear Kuusamo Team
Leader Koillismaa Support
Leader Support for Internationalization
Karhu-Kuusamo Oy/Bear Kuusamo Ltd has received funding from the EU Rural Development Fund through the Koillismaa Leader Group to internationalize its website.
With this support, we carried out translations and search engine optimization of the website’s language versions in French, German, Italian, Spanish, and Dutch.
Our goal is to improve our international visibility and discoverability, particularly in the Central European travel market. We wish to showcase our region’s responsible nature tourism and its unique opportunities to international travelers.
