A video of a man feeding a wild bear is going viral, as it highlights the issues of interacting with wildlife in national parks.
The Instagram account Tourons of National Parks (@touronsofnationalparks) shared a video of a man in Romania standing outside of his car and tossing food to a large brown bear in a forest.
In it, the person gets within feet of the bear to throw the creature a handful of what appears to be some kind of snack food. The bear eats the treat and then lunges for the man before the camera cuts away. When it pans back across, the bear can be seen retreating into the forest, seemingly without having injured the man.
Feeding any wild animals is a dangerous proposition, but bears are a particularly risky business. According to the U.S. National Park Service, bears that have been fed by humans, either intentionally or unintentionally — by leaving food around barbecue grills, campsites, and garbage cans, among other sources — can lose their natural fear of humans.
Most bears are scared of humans. If they are incentivized by food and that fear leaves, though, they can become aggressive if the food is not readily available. Once that fear is gone, the NPS notes that the bears either have to be relocated (which is frequently unsuccessful) or killed.
On top of that, bears are wild animals and can behave unpredictably, particularly when food is involved. While visiting national parks is an amazing way to experience nature, attempting to feed them puts yourself and others at risk of injury — or worse.
According to the Guardian, Romania recently announced controversial plans to kill nearly 500 bears after a deadly attack on a hiker, citing concerns about "overpopulation."
However, World Wildlife Fund Romania pointed out to the publication that these actions wouldn't solve the problem of bear attacks in the country unless other steps were taken, including preventing people from feeding the creatures and developing better procedures around handling outdoor food waste.
Commenters were quick to point out how reckless the behavior was.
"What goes through the minds of people when they see these massive wild animals?" one person wondered. "It's not a dog?"
"Repeat after me," another replied. "This is not a petting zoo."
"Do not feed the bears!" someone else said. "Hopefully, he learns his lesson."
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