Watch: Bear family piles into car after mama bear opens door
Bear opens car door
Family of bears pile into Tennessee vehicle after mama bear opens the door looking for a meal.
A family of bears was caught on camera breaking into a parked car in Tennessee.
What we know:
Kathie Gentry recorded the jaw-dropping encounter and shared the video with Storyful after watching a mother bear open the passenger-side door and climb inside.
Gentry said she was arriving at a church women’s retreat in Gatlinburg when she spotted the mother and her cubs emerging from the woods.
She watched in amazement as the mama bear opened the car door and climbed inside, with the cubs following one after another into her friend’s vehicle.
What they're saying:
"We were thankful they didn’t come to my car next, considering I had snacks and chocolate that I’m sure they would have enjoyed," Gentry told Storyful.
Increase in bear encounters
Bear encounters with humans have been on the rise as the summer drought has brought bears to urban areas seeking food.
"Bears aren’t necessarily behaving any differently, but they are definitely increasing their activity in the places that they’re looking for food," said Travis Sauder, a state wildlife officer in southeastern Colorado.
Why you should care:
According to the National Park Service, feeding bears or allowing them access to human food and garbage causes a number of problems:
- It changes the bear's behavior and causes them to lose their instinctive fear of humans. Over time, these bears may begin approaching people in search of food and may become more unpredictable and dangerous.
- Bears that obtain human food and garbage may damage property and injure people. These bears pose a risk to public safety. Often, they must be euthanized.
- Studies have shown that bears that lose their fear of people by obtaining human food and garbage never live as long as bears that feed on natural foods and are shy and afraid of people. Many are hit by cars and become easy targets for poachers.
Officials say many bears that visit populated areas are tranquilized and moved out of town, but if they start associating food with people, however, they can be euthanized.
The Source: This story was written with information provided by video shared Kathie Gentry via Storyful. This story was reported from Orlando.