ready, teddy, go!

unironically: yes!

428 Studious and her sister 429 Social were born to 128 Grazer in 2020. They look basically identical to each other -- so much so that many people cannot tell the two of them apart, even today. But, they had different personalities: one of them paid attention during their mother's fishing lessons, and one of them kept running off to go play with other young bears. They came to be called "Grazer's studious cub" and "Grazer's social cub", which got shortened to just "Studious" and "Social", and the names stuck!

Short answer: When they're not babies anymore!

Long answer: Bears at Brooks River receive a number when they are seen as an independent bear -- ie, not with their mother -- by the bear monitor* at least 3 times in July or September of a given year. All newly monitored bears in a given year receive monitoring numbers that begin with the same digit; 2024 was the 500s, 2025 was the 600s, 2026 will be the 700s, etc. These rules apply to both newly emancipated cubs and to any new bears that happen to wander in.

The purpose of the numbers is to track the population of bears that use Brooks River regularly, and since cubs move as one unit with their mother, it is simpler and more useful to track them as a family unit (ie, 909+2, or 132+3). Additionally, many cubs that grow up in the Brooks River area leave for other places in Katmai National Park, and many other bears wander in from elsewhere too. If cubs received their own numbers, it would overwhelm the numbering system -- especially when you consider the fact that the bears can live for up to 30 years!

i believe one study put cub survival rates around 50% overall in Katmai, though I'm not sure how that number tracks to Brooks River or the modern day specifically -- i think the study is older, and things may have shifted. From my time watching the cams it seems like young and first-time mothers lose more cubs than older and more experienced mothers, though obviously older and more experienced mothers do also lose cubs sometimes.

It is just a reality of the lives these bears live, as sad as it is to us humans. The winters are long and harsh in Katmai, and that's before you add in other threats like canine adenovirus 1 (which is endemic to the area) and the dangers that adult male bears pose to young cubs.

Most cub deaths, in my experience, happen within their first year -- once they are yearlings, they are much safer, and if they make it through emancipation then they will likely survive to see their 20s. But the realities of cub deaths are another factor in why baby bears don't receive monitoring numbers: there are many more bears born than bears who live to see adulthood.