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A once-in-a-lifetime shot of a grizzly bear appearing to set up a photo has a B.C. wildlife photographer in the middle of a viral cyberstorm.

East Kootenay-based Jim Lawrence was keeping his distance — as he has for 50 years now — taking long-distance shots of a grizzly hunting for spawning salmon.

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“He’s a male, about five years old, and he was fishing on the other bank of the river,” said Lawrence, who won’t reveal where the photo was taken for fear a hunter will take out his new-found friend.

“I set my camera up in a clearing in the brush, hoping to get a clear shot.

“You can never predict what a wild animal will do, so all of a sudden he crosses the river and starts scrambling up the bank.”

So Lawrence, a spry 67, hightailed it out of there, abandoning his tripod and camera.

“I ran up to my truck, and grabbed another camera,” Lawrence told The Province. “The bear started sniffing around the camera — it was saturated with my scent.”