“I honestly thought me and everybody else parked in that parking lot were about to be traumatized for the rest of our lives, I really thought she was about to attack him.” -Paige Marple

If you want to see exactly what not to do when you come across a mama bear and her cubs click the video below. Its easy to see why she snapped into protection mode and luckily mama only threw a mock charge at this genius. Knox News reports several people who witnessed the encounter hurled insults at the unidentified man who was seeminly proud of his actions:

“He looked at us, and he said, ‘Did you see that?’ Like he was proud of it or something and I was like, ‘Yeah, did you realize you just about died?'”

Park Rangers reviewed the footage and appeared dumbfounded by the man’s behavior:

Official statement from Great Smoky Mountains National Park:

“To help us best protect bears in the park, it is critical that people act responsibly during their visit. Bears should never be fed or approached. We work hard to keep bears wild in a space shared with 11.4 million people. We need each visitor to do their part by always staying at least 50 yards back from bears and properly disposing of food waste – for their safety and that of the bears. Bears are wild animals and their behavior is unpredictable. Mother bears are extremely protective of their young and they will aggressively defend their cubs from harm. By approaching a mother bear with cubs, visitors are putting themselves and others at risk of injury.”

Unofficial Networks Newsletter

Get the latest snow and mountain lifestyle news and entertainment delivered to your inbox.

Hidden
Newsletters
This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.