Gazing lovingly at her triplets, this grizzly bear looks content as she lies on the sand with her cubs curled around her.
The mother allowed the offspring to cuddle up to her after a feeding session in Katmai National Park, Alaska and shielded them from the cold wind and rain.
Before allowing her youngsters to rest on her warm fur, the mother spent her time hunting for butter clams, using an incredible sense of smell to find them in wet sand. Then, after her arduous search, the tired parent fell into a deep sleep while her youngsters clambered over her.
Photographer Hank Perry and his tour guide had to remain still in terrible conditions for four hours to take the stunning photographs in a bid to show the new mother they were not a threat to her little ones.
The 58-year-old from Walnut Creek, California, said he traveled to North America to share the ‘once-in-a-lifetime’ moment with the endangered species.
Only then did the bear feel comfortable in approaching them, allowing the animals to get as close as 25 feet.
Family: The mother grizzly bear and her three triplets huddle together on the sand. They are resting after a feeding session in Katmai National Park, Alaska
Playful: The offspring clambered over their mother while she lay out on the sand. The photographer, who waited for four hours to take the stunning photos, said the infants purred like kittens as they surrounded their parent
Crawling: Two of the youngsters dig in the sand, helping their mother search for butter clams, while the other wanders between her legs. Hank Perry, 58, braved the wind and rain to capture the images of the family together
Hungry: The cubs feed on their mother as she lays back on the beach. The mother constantly feeds so she can constantly produce milk for her young
Cuddling up: The three cubs curl up next to each other after they have finished feeding. One lifts its head up and glances at the camera
Protection: The three cubs look like they are hiding behind their mother while two of them glare at the camera lens
Backdrop: The family scaled the beach looking for food with towering, snow-covered Alaskan mountains in the background
From a distance: Mr. Perry captures the triplet cubs running towards their mother along the coastline
Steps: After the bears left the beach, Mr. Perry captured the footprints engrained on the sand. One from the mother and another tiny print from a cub
