Video: People pull bear cubs from tree in North Carolina to take selfies
A group of people in North Carolina pulled three wild bear cubs out of a tree and posed for pictures. Concerned eyewitnesses called police.
Video: Group pulls bear cub from tree for selfie
Someone caught people behaving badly from her apartment. The video shows a group of people pulling a bear cub out of a tree for a selfie.
FAIRVIEW, N.C. – A group of people were caught pulling bear cubs from a tree in the backyard of an apartment complex in North Carolina.
"Should we go to the (apartment) office?" one stunned onlooker could be heard saying on video. "I don't know what to do."
The video shows a group of about six people pulling what appear to be three black bear cubs from a tree behind a fence in a neighborhood near Ashville. The small animals clung to the tree, apparently not wanting to be touched.
"She's holding it, up. She's holding a bear," another eyewitness could be heard saying. "The other guy's grabbing the other one."
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A woman held the cub before dropping it.
(Rachel Stuadt Local News X/TMX / FOX Weather)
"So she can say, ‘here, take my picture, post it all over. I'm holding a black bear.'" the eyewitness continued while watching the impromptu photo shoot. "That's insane. That's 100% what she's doing. She's taking pictures of him."
One of the bear holders could be heard cheering and seen doing a celebratory dance move.
"Did she just drop it?" asked an eyewitness as the squirming fuzz ball fell from the woman's arms and tried to run away. "Get back to your brother or sister."
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The cub tried to escape, but the woman chased it.
(Rachel Stuadt Local News X/TMX / FOX Weather)
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By the time the police and biologist Ashley Hobbs with the North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission arrived, two of the cubs had escaped. Only one cub was still on the wrong side of the fence. She said the bear had probably been out in the rain, cold and alone for a while.
"We do think that the bear probably had a pretty traumatic experience," Hobbs told the reporter. "That cub was brought to a rehab facility, and will be released back into the wild when it's ready."
Hobbs said she did confront the group handling the bears and told them their actions were irresponsible and possibly deadly.
"It is frustrating to see people be that irresponsible around wildlife because it is a blessing that we get to live in the mountains around these creatures," Hobbs said about the bear cubs.
A wildlife official told local media that it is not unusual for a mother bear to leave her cubs in a tree while she forages.
Tourists behaving badly
A similar situation did turn deadly for one bison in Yellowstone National Park. Visitors to the park put a newborn calf in their car because they were concerned about its welfare. Park rangers tried repeatedly to reunite the calf with the herd but were unsuccessful. Rangers feel that the interference by people caused the mother to reject her baby, according to a statement.
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An unidentified white male in his 40-50's, wearing a blue shirt and black pants, approached a newborn bison calf in Lamar Valley near the confluence of the Lamar River and Soda Butte Creek in Yellowstone National Park.
(Hellen Jack / FOX Weather)
"The bison calf was later euthanized because it was abandoned and causing a dangerous situation by continually approaching people and cars along the roadway," the National Park Service said in a statement.
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A nervous nurse is heard in a video saying
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Another woman lived but was gored by a bison at Yellowstone. A helicopter ambulance rushed her to a hospital with significant injuries to her chest and stomach.
Another visitor barely escaped injury when she reached out to pet a bison, again caught on video.
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One tourist to Yellowstone National Park learned first-hand why one should stay away from wildlife. The enormous bison threatened to charge when she tried to touch the animal's head.
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Approaching wild animals can drastically affect their well-being and turn deadly for the animal or human, according to the NPS.