People are flooding to social media in outrage after a group were recorded pulling bear cubs out of a tree to take photos with them.
On Tuesday (16 April) near an apartment complex in Buncombe County in North Carolina, a group of six people were recorded plucking bear cubs out of trees and posing with them for photographs.
The video shows a group of six people standing near a fence and area of trees.
One of the group members is stood in front of the fence holding a bear cub in their arms, posing as another bends down to take a picture.
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Another member of the group can be seen reaching up into the tree and plucking a cub from its spot. And another cub is even dropped.
Part of the incident was caught on camera and authorities were quickly called to intervene.
Police attending the scene called in North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission special projects biologist Ashley Hobbs to assist.
She told ABC 13 News when she arrived at the scene, there was only one cub at the location, as opposed to the several seen in the video.
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Hobbs says the cub was wet and cold and had to be placed in a rehab facility.
"We do think that the bear probably had a pretty traumatic experience," she said.
The biologist notes the group of six seen in the video were confronted about their actions 'on site that day'.
"[We] let them know how irresponsible and potentially deadly it could be for that cub to be separated from its mom, especially ripped out of a tree like that," she added.
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Jody Williams, founder of Help Asheville Bears also condemned the groups' actions.
He said: "All for a selfie. All for a selfie. [...] Super super high anxiety. I feel bad for the cubs. I feel bad for the ignorance of those people.
"Total selfishness. This is not what we talk about when we talk about co-existing."
And it's not taken long for people to flood to social media in similar outrage too.
One YouTuber user said: "Who raised these ppl. So disrespectful of wildlife. Hope there are some kind of charges that can be filed. They were lucky mama bear didn't come out and teach them a lesson. I don't know if they were remorseful."
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"Leave bears alone," another said, while a third commented: "I hope they were charged."
The incident is reportedly still being investigated.
UNILAD has contacted the North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission and Buncombe County Sheriff's Office for comment.
Topics: Animals, Social Media, US News, Animal Cruelty, Environment