Bear release goes awry when cub heads straight toward photographer in Colorado. See it
A hesitant cub nearly took out a wildlife staffer as an officer released it into the Colorado wilderness, video shows.
Colorado Parks and Wildlife’s Northeast Region shared the video to X, formerly known as Twitter, on Wednesday, Nov. 27, and reflected on the agency’s typical advice to those who encounter bears in the wild.
“Before we share a video of our latest time releasing rehabbed bear cubs into the wild, we want to remember all the times we gave tips on what to do if you encounter wildlife. Make yourself big, yell, retreat slowly, etc.,” the agency said. “And then sometimes you just yell ‘bear bear bear bear’.”
Video shows a wildlife officer trying to release two unsure-looking cubs from the back of a pickup truck. Each cub hesitates, and one sticks its head out of the cage to look around tentatively before taking two slow steps outside.
It is this cub in particular that nearly plows into the staffer standing off to the side of the truck to photograph the release.
When the other cub sticks its head out, the officer claps their hands softly and says “let’s go,” which seems to startle the cubs.
The one that stepped out first rushes to the edge of the cab door and looks over as if it’s going jump off, but it stops short and retreats back into the cage.
The other cub lumbers off the back of the truckbed and takes off running.
Realizing it’s alone, the other cub finally goes for it — in the exact opposite direction from where the officer motions they think it might go, toward the left of the truck.
The cub hops off the left side of the truckbed where the photographer is standing nearby.
The photographer raises the hand that isn’t holding the camera and says “bear bear bear bear bear!”
The cub runs right past them and heads for the forest as they snap a couple photos of it running away.
The agency released the cubs Friday, Nov. 22. One was found wandering in Longmont earlier this year, the other came from Colorado Springs, officials said in the post.
The cubs spent months at the agency’s wildlife rehabilitation facility in Del Norte “and are now ready to make their own dens for hibernation,” officials said.
“At the rehab facility, CPW staff intentionally start to scale back feedings to mimic conditions in the wild and signal to the bears it’s time to start hibernation,” the agency said. “We try to set them up for success because we want bears to thrive in Colorado.”
Photos show the cubs jumping from the cab and running away during the release. One photo shows the backside of the bear that nearly ran into the photographer as it runs for the forest.
“PS: yelling ‘bear’ worked,” officials said.
This story was originally published November 27, 2024 at 6:20 PM with the headline "Bear release goes awry when cub heads straight toward photographer in Colorado. See it."
