This is a very cute and yet at the same time disturbing video. It’s cute because a young, subadult wild bear high-fives a motorist who parked up to observe them on the road. I don’t know where it was filmed; possibly America. It looks as though this young bear really wants to interact with people and it almost looks as if he has learnt to high-five as his behaviour is so premeditated and controlled.
He’s enjoyed himself and so has the driver of the vehicle although they did put themselves in danger. And here’s the point: the bear has also put himself in danger because perhaps he has learned that he can now go up to strangers on trails in his habitat.
And the next time that he goes up to a stranger that person might have a gun and they might be a shooter, a person who likes to shoot animals or they may be fearful of being attacked or want to find an excuse to kill an animal even when they are protected. The end result will be the death of a beautiful bear who was misled into believing that all humans were safe and non-hostile. He would be gravely mistaken if he learnt that.
If it is America, it’s a country well-known for their liking of sport hunting where they “harvest” (my god I hate that word) wild animals such as the bobcat. This is allowed in many states. I think, for example, Texas allows it. Harvesting of bobcats is up to a certain limit but I don’t think anybody should be harvesting animals. Let’s harvest the wheat and the corn but please, God, not beautiful wild, sentient creatures who share the planet with us.
My sentiments about this bear are shared by the people who comment on the video on TikTok. One person for example said: “This is adorable but it really will put the bear and other people in danger.”
And another said: “Irresponsible and sad people can’t just enjoy these at a distance”.
My sentiments entirely. I think that we should allow wild animals their own space in their own habitat and that we, humans, should enjoy their presence at a distance. We should try and live in harmony with them. I know that is a tiresome message but we have to try and do better. Sadly, I see no chance of doing better because human population growth in developing countries is running amok while in northern European countries it is more or less stable and in Russia it is declining. The trouble is that most, or a large percentage of, iconic wildlife species live in developing countries.
Below are some more pages on bears.
