This photo, taken recently along Going To The Sun Road in Glacier National Park, was posted to the Glacier National Park and Montana Tourism Facebook pages.

Yes, the little bear cub is cute, and it is tempting to walk right up and pet one.  I notice several of the people are looking off into the woods, no doubt wondering when mama bear is going to show up.

Sadly, although this encounter ended without incident, it may well be the beginning of the end of this poor little cub.

Here's the post that accompanied the photo on the GNP FB page:

This is a rather troubling picture that was taken yesterday with a telephoto lens from about 200 yards away, and then cropped in for a better view. It shows visitors circling a bear cub on the Going-to-the-Sun Road and the bear trying to get away. The big question is, where is Mama? Visitors should never approach wildlife and should remain at least 100 yards away from wildlife. Remember, never feed wildlife. While it didn't appear anyone was feeding the bear, can you imagine if this bear was fed and continued to hang around? While this scene ended without injury to anyone (including the bear), this bear has now been exposed to humans. Bears that are habituated to people can become problem bears and compromises the safety of both bears and visitors. - July 11, 2011 (dr)

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