A group of people who allegedly snatched a bear cub from its family simply to take photos with it have drawn the wrath of a wildlife protection agency after a video showing their “selfish” actions was strongly denounced on the Web.
“I confronted the offenders (…) and explained to them the danger of approaching and handling wild animals. There is always a chance that the mother is nearby and trying to defend her young. It also puts the cubs at risk,” Ashley Hobbs, a biologist with the North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission, told CBS News on Thursday.
On Tuesday, six individuals in North Carolina were allegedly filmed unknowingly attempting to snatch two bear cubs from a tree they were perched in on the other side of a fence, in order to take photos with them. them.
Except their actions would have left one of the babies orphaned and potentially injured in the process, after one of the group managed to grab hold of him and proudly pose for the camera with a smile, before the baby slipped from his grasp. hands.
In the heartbreaking footage, the bear cub can be seen trying in vain to climb the fence to return to the second baby on the other side, while he is chased by the woman who was holding him moments earlier.
Screenshot taken from Facebook
“Put him in his place, he’s scared!” The witness of the scene, Rachel Staudt, would then have shouted to the group.
When wildlife officers arrived on the scene, they reportedly spotted the frightened and lethargic cub in a stormwater retention pond, while the group was still on the scene trying to retrieve it, according to the media outlet. American.
The baby was limping and had a low body temperature, the biologist continued, while the second baby had disappeared, probably recovered by its mother. Because at this age, a bear cub cannot survive on its own, she told CBS News.
The bear cub separated from his family had to be transported to an animal rehabilitation center where he will remain for the next 4 to 6 years while waiting to achieve enough independence to be released into the wild.
If you come across an animal that appears injured or abandoned, Ashley Hobbs recommends “leaving the animal alone” and “contacting the state wildlife agency for assistance,” or risk harming its well-being. or put oneself in danger, she concluded.
