May 9, 2026, 12:21 p.m. ET
Footage showing a “large grizzly bear family” walking alongside a highway in the Canadian Rockies is genuine, according to the photographer.
The footage, posted Friday by City of Calgary Culture and shared below, also shows one of three cubs walking upright on its hind legs, adding a surreal quality.
We reached out to the photographer, Rocco Rennie, after noting that several comments were from followers who questioned the authenticity of his footage.
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“Looks like AI, the shadows aren’t quite right,” reads a top comment. “Also look at where their paws make contact with the asphalt, they don’t quite touch the road.”
The top comment reads: “Anyone else tired of looking at videos trying to decide if it’s AI?”
Rennie also commented, stating: “It’s real. I took the video.”
Rennie told FTW Outdoors that he encountered the bears while driving to a hiking trail in Kananaskis Country in Alberta, west of Calgary.
“We were on our way to a hike in Kananaskis around 8 a.m. and we saw them so I pulled over and took the video,” Rennie explained. “And after our hike we saw the same family of bears being moved by a parks truck. I’m assuming they didn’t want them there.”
Rennie texted me two additional clips of footage captured through his windshield. One shows the bears milling on the side of the road and the other shows them running in front of a ranger truck with lights flashing. (See screen shot above.)
In the second clip, as in the clip shared by City of Calgary Culture, a yellow research tag is visible in momma bear’s left ear. So she’s a known bear with older cubs, and they’ve probably been encountered several times in the region.
Also, it’s worth noting that it’s not uncommon for bears to stand on their hind legs for short periods. They do this to achieve a better sense of their surroundings.