Polar bear plays with a pair of shorts after finding them near Eskimo enclave (4)

This is the moment a huge polar bear tried to squeeze into a pair of abandoned shorts she found inside the Arctic Circle.

After spying the clothing in the frozen wastelands, the curious bear picked them up, and made a spirited, though unsuccessful, attempt to put them on.

The unlucky ursine animal soon found that the shorts weren't in her size, and gave up trying to get her paws through the legholes.

No sooner had she given up on the frozen catwalk show than her cub got involved as well, trying to whisk away the tattered item.

The two fought playfully over the item in front of the watchful eye of wildlife photograph Daryl Balfour, who captured the scene.

Mr Balfour, 63, found the bears near a native settlement within the Arctic Circle. The shorts could have been left behind by locals, who use the area to dry fish.

It could also have made its way into their paws after washing up from the sea.

Mr Balfour said: 'This polar bear mum and her cub were frolicking about like it was a balmy day on the Costa do Sol. I found the whole episode truly amusing and entertaining.

'Polar bears are very inquisitive by nature, playing with foreign items they might find, including driftwood and other items that could wash up in the Beaufort Sea.'