A bear cub that was filmed being yanked from a tree for a selfie has been released back into the wild eight months later.
In April, PetaPixel reported on a viral video which showed a group of people tearing two bear cubs out of a tree so that they could pose for selfies with them.
In the the footage, six people were seen pulling the bear cubs out of a tree near Berrington Village Apartments in Buncombe County, North Carolina.
In the shocking clip, the six individuals worked together to rip the first female cub out of the tree to take selfies, despite meeting with resistance from the animal.
One of the women managed to grab hold of a female cub and take a photo while holding it.
But suddenly, a shrieking sound is heard from the animal and the female cub collapses to the ground. The cub then runs away along the inside of the fence, attempting to climb it, while the woman chases after it.
In the footage, a second cub, presumed to be her sibling, was seen fleeing in terror from the group. But this second cub was never found.
The Rescue of ‘Selfie Bear’
However, the female cub was rescued by North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission (NCWRC) staff. The bear was discovered in a nearby retention pond after the incident and wildlife officials took it to a state-licensed rehabilitation facility.
The cub was wet, shivering, and frightened when it was found, apparently favoring one of its front paws.
NCWRC says that while rehabilitated animals are generally not given names, the cub became referred to as “selfie bear” by the public due to the nature of her becoming orphaned.
It is unknown whether the two baby cubs were in the tree in April because they had been orphaned or if the two were simply waiting for their mother to return.
It’s not uncommon for a female to drop their cubs off in a safe tree and then return to them later. But if a cub is separated from its mother in the wild, it could die.
In a news release published on Wednesday, NCWRC says that the now-healthy female cub has now been released back into the wild.
In footage, shared by NWRC, the rehabilitated cub is seen shooting out of a crate and running into the woods. She was fitted with a tracking collar and given identifying tags and marks before being released.
“The GPS collar data shows that she is adjusting well to life back in the wild,” NCWRC Bearwise Coordinator Ashley Hobbs says in a statement.
“Like most rehabilitated black bear cubs, we expect this cub to follow its instincts this winter and identify an appropriate location to den. Bear cubs are resilient animals, and it looks like this cub won’t be an exception.”
At the time of the video’s release, the NWRC decided not to press charges against the people who picked up and posed with the cubs — despite calls to punish them.
“In North Carolina law, it’s definitely unlawful to catch and keep bears, but they didn’t put it in a vehicle, they didn’t put it in a house, they didn’t put it in an enclosure,” Capt. Branden Jones of NWRC told The Citizen Times.
Image credits: Center photo by the Appalachian Wildlife Refuge.