Video of Group 'Ripping' Terrified Bear Cubs From Trees to Take Photos Has People Sickened
Getting the chance to encounter a wild animal up close is a privilege, and most people understand that you should never get too close, never disturb their surroundings, and absolutely never touch the animal. Except these people in North Carolina who pulled young bear cubs from the trees behind an apartment complex to take selfies with them.
One of the little cubs was found in a retention pond at the apartment complex because it was so frightened by the encounter that it went to hide from the offenders.
Absolute wonderful human Rachel Stoudt, who lives in the complex, filmed the encounter and gave the video to the police. ABC News reports, "A few seconds after the photos were taken, the person dropped the cub which yelped and started to run away. The cub tried to get through a fence that separated it from the tree where it and the other cub were perched.
"They were chasing it around after that trying to pick it back up, but eventually the apartment maintenance got involved and told them to stop," Staudt, 21, told ABC News.
Related: Mama Bear and Cubs Enjoy a Dip in Woman's Pool and People Are Praising Her
The North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission received the video and one of their agents, Ashley Hobbs, who is a bear expert, arrived at the scene. Hobbs found one of the little cubs in a pond in the middle of the apartment complex.
"The cub in the pond was lethargic, had a low body temperature and was favoring one of its front paws," Hobbs said in a statement. "I confronted the offending people while at the apartment complex and explained the danger of approaching and handling wildlife."
NCWRC transported the cub to a local rehab facility and it "seems to be recovering well," according to Hobbs.
This incident remains an active investigation. I'm not sure if these people will get fined or jail time, but in my opinion they deserve it.
Why You Should Never Touch a Bear Cub
Due to this horrific incident, the NCWRC wildlife biologists are once again reminding the public that they should never approach a bear cub. Game Mammals and Surveys Supervisor Colleen Olfenbuttel explains, "This time of year, mother bears are emerging from their den with their cubs that are experiencing the outside world for the first time and are very dependent on their mother to feed and protect them. People who try to capture or handle a cub are not only risking the cub’s safety, but their own if the mother bear is nearby, as she may try to defend her cubs.Even if you don’t see the mother bear, she could be nearby, and the cubs are waiting for her to return. By trying to capture a bear cub, you may cause it to become orphaned, injured or both, as we saw occur in this incident."
The public should contact NCWRC if they suspect they’ve encountered an orphaned bear cub. Do not approach the cub, do not handle the cub, attempt to remove it, feed it, or snatch it out of a tree to take a selfie with it.
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