‘She’s holding it!’ Bear cubs yanked from tree so group can take photos, NC video shows
Bear cubs were yanked from a tree so a group could take photos with them, a North Carolina video shows.
One of the two cubs was later found scared and favoring a front paw, a condition an expert believes was the result of the group’s “unnecessary and irresponsible” interaction. The N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission said it hopes the other baby finds its mom since it depends on her to survive.
“Even if you don’t see the mother bear, she could be nearby, and the cubs are waiting for her to return,” the expert, game mammals and surveys supervisor Colleen Olfenbuttel, said in an April 18 news release. “By trying to capture a bear cub, you may cause it to become orphaned, injured or both, as we saw occur in this incident.”
Bear Cub Harassed from N.C. Wildlife on Vimeo.
The moments were caught on camera at an apartment complex in the popular mountain town of Asheville. Officials responded to the area April 16 after a report of people “seen pulling two bear cubs from a tree and taking photos of themselves with the cubs.”
Video shows people reaching for the cubs on branches before a person grabs one of them.
“She’s holding it!” someone can be heard saying as the group member with the bear posed for pictures.
“Poor thing!” a person said when a cub scurried away toward the end of the minute-long clip.
Wildlife officials said the bears broke loose after one of them bit someone. One cub was found at a retention pond and sent to a rehabilitation center.
“The cub appeared to be lethargic and frightened,” Ashley Hobbs, the commission’s BearWise coordinator, said in the release. “It looked to be favoring one of its front paws and was wet and shivering.”
An investigation into the video continues. In the meantime, officials urged people to keep their distance from bears and avoid taking pictures with them.
“We did follow up with the people who pulled the bear out of the tree,” Hobbs told WLOS, referring to the cub taken to rehab. “We did confront them on site that day and let them know how irresponsible and potentially deadly it could be for that cub to be separated from its mom, especially ripped out of a tree like that.”
What to know about bears in North Carolina
Black bears live in the eastern and western parts of North Carolina, often in swamps or woods. The animals typically stay away from humans, though food and trash can bring them closer to people, the commission wrote on its website.
Bears tend to be more active in the spring as they leave their dens. If you see a cub alone, it likely means its mom is looking for food and will come back soon, The Charlotte Observer reported.
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