Footage from Romania shows an unexpected interloper on the ski slopes: a large brown bear in hot pursuit of a skier during one of the world’s scariest downhill events.
David Creța, one of several who filmed last week’s frightening encounter, wrote on YouTube that skiers in the lift above tried to whistle and shout to distract the bear, but the animal wasn’t falling for it. Instead, the bear made a beeline for the skier, who came up with a plan on the fly.
“He did a pretty cool move, which is a really safe one when you want to get away from the bear,” skier Angel Somicu, who spotted the same bear an hour earlier, told ABC News. “He dropped his bag off, and, well, the bear was dragged towards the bag.”
Creța wrote on YouTube that the bear stopped chasing the skier and went for the bag, likely in search of food.
“So the skier is safe and OK,” he wrote.
Local police told UPI that the bear hightailed it into the woods when the department’s ATVs arrived on the scene.
The bear may be relocated to prevent future encounters.
Romania is home to some 6,000 brown bears ― one of the largest populations in Europe ― and encounters with humans have become increasingly common in recent years, including some with deadly consequences. That has prompted a debate in the nation on how to handle the animals. Some have called for a return of trophy hunting ― banned in the country since 2016 ― while others advocate for less aggressive bear management techniques, Euronews reported in December.
(h/t digg)