Anything for a selfie. Last Tuesday, a group of people were filmed pulling bear cubs from a tree to take photos. One of the animals was captured before being dropped on the ground. He then fled, trying to climb over the fence. A witness, who lives in the Berrington, North Carolina, apartment complex, took video of the scene.
“They chased him after that to try to get him back, but eventually a maintenance worker intervened and told them to stop,” Rachel Staudt told ABC News. The 21-year-old then called the police and provided them with the video which US media then broadcast.
The North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission dispatched an expert to the scene. Biologist Ashley Hobbs found the cub in a retention pond. He was “wet and cold” and “alone for some time.” “The bear probably had a traumatic experience,” adds the specialist. The animal was temporarily accommodated in a center, while it recovers, and will soon be released into the wild.
“It’s just ignorance, total selfishness”
It is not uncommon for a female to place her young in a tree at this time of year. “We found the people who pulled the bear from the tree and (…) explained to them how irresponsible and potentially fatal it was for this cub to be separated from its mother,” continues the biologist.
Jody Williams, the founder of Help Asheville Bears, called on abc13news to better educate the population and to take this video as an example of what we should definitely not do. “It’s just ignorance, total selfishness. This is not what we are talking about when we talk about coexistence (between animals and humans),” she adds.