Thursday

A small bear is caught on camera wandering down a sidewalk and even crossing at a crosswalk in downtown Gatlinburg, Tenn.

An unlikely tourist was mingling with locals on a Tennessee street this weekend, and they did well to give it a wide berth.

A black bear cub took to the streets Saturday in Gaitlinburg, frightening drivers and pedestrians alike as it crossed the road at a crosswalk and marched up the steps of the local convention center.

While the creatures are common in the Tennessee mountains, the massive crowd, seen in a viral video, were none-the-less thrilled by the spectacle.

As the animal marched down Parkway, scores of people began following behind, taking pictures with their cell phones and enjoying the show - most at a safe distance.

However, some people, enamored with the wild animal, walked directly into its path to get a good shot. Thankfully the creature kept it's cool.


'Unfortunately, a lot of people in our society are getting more desensitized to wild animals as we move more and more into this digital age, and we don't actually get out into the woods, so you don't encounter these animals very frequently except for on TV,' Dr Marcy Souza of the University of Tennessee School of Veterinary Medicine told local WATE.

'Although he looks cute and cuddly, they can actually be pretty fierce,' Souza said.

'That bear probably weighed somewhere in the range of 80 pounds would be my guess, and they can do some serious damage if he got cornered as he did in some of those situations.'


Tricia Alexander, of Powell, Tennessee, captured video of the bear and posted it to her Facebook page describing how she took the two-minute video from inside the safety of her own car.

She can be heard on the tape telling her son that the creature is scared.

Local authorities said the bears regular saunter into town, showing up at hotels, shops and public squares looking for food, particularly as winter nears.

The creature eventually found its way back to the woods, leaving the crowd of camera-holding people behind.
Source

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Responses to "Black bear caught on camera crossing Tennessee street (Video)"

  1. Unknown says:

    Oh, my god. Have people got no common sense at all!? the bear is wild and they're getting way too close to the poor thing!

  2. Anonymous says:

    poor little guy was scared to death by rednecks gathering and cornering him. It's a thousand wonders he didn't maul someone.

  3. Grushenko says:

    he's a baby yet, no mauling... just great scratches... what really impressed me is how the bear crossed the street at the crossing only... that was funny enough... but the humans, now where was anyone with goodness to help the poor bear find its way and keep other humans from harassing the creature? No where in site....

  4. Anonymous says:

    I have seen a grizzly bear in Alaska with her cub on the side of the road. A stupide tourist get out of is car to take a picture. The mother bear attack him to protect het little one then go a way. The asian tourist was not much hurt. The park officials came and search for the "killer bear". I believe that they had killed that bear. Each time a tourist is attacked (because of is stupidity) the bear is put down.

  5. Anonymous says:

    I think the poor bear was scared and he was thirsty and All the people thought was to keep taking pictures call wildlife or let him get back to the woods, leave him alone

  6. Anonymous says:

    no wonder he was in a panicked .. look at all those stupid people .. they made it worse for that cub .. really !!

  7. del holt says:

    ...the amazing public...

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