THIS is the sweet moment two polar bears appear to stop mid-fight to give each other a loving squeeze.

The images, captured by Igor Azkargorta, 51, show the two polar bears with their arms wrapped round each other and faces nuzzled into each other’s fur, despite fighting only minutes before.

Traveler and photographer Azkargorta captured the stunning images of the bears in Churchill, Canada.

Azkargorta said: “I love photographing polar bears. They are really curious animals.

“Churchill is well known for its polar bear population and it is a great place to go and photograph them.

“This particular time there were around 20 polar bears there.

“The younger bears were playing but the mothers were defending their offspring from other bears.

“When the bears fought I was surprised by the amount of force they used.”

When not photographing polar bears in Churchill, Azkargorta from Mondragon, Basque Country, travels the world photographing wildlife.

Azkargorta said: “My favorite place to take photographs is Botswana and it was my first trips to Africa 20 years ago that inspired me to photograph wildlife.

“My favorite animals to photograph are Lycaons, a type of wild dog.

“I like to dedicate myself to traveling and taking pictures and there are lots of other places like Japan, Galapagos and the Falkland Islands that I still want to travel to.” (SD-Agencies)