(CNN Spanish) –- The video of a woman taking a photo while having a very close encounter with a bear in the Chipinque Ecological Park in Nuevo León, Mexico, has gone viral on social networks and has also caused authorities to initiate a urgent search to capture the black bear and thus avoid a major incident.
"Now we are trying to capture the bear. It is an animal that has dangerous behavior. We have previously captured it twice, but at the request of the neighbors we released it. We must confine it to a reserve or zoo, ”engineer Gustavo Cecilio Treviño Villarreal, federal director of Parks and Wildlife of Nuevo León, told CNN en Español.
LOOK: Most polar bears would disappear as soon as in 80 years, study finds
In two videos that were sent to CNN, a group of three women can be seen standing still when they discover the bear's presence. One of them in a risky gesture takes a photo when the animal stands behind her and sniffs her. People who record the moment in the distance try to reassure women and ask them not to move. “What the young woman did was the right thing. Standing still and calm was the right thing to do, ”says the director general of the Nuevo León Parks and Wildlife Department.
Close encounter with a Black Bear. Place: Cerro Chipinque de Monterrey Park, Nuevo León, Mexico. I admire the nerves of steel of the young girl who even took a selfie with it. After the danger and the scare, we only wait for the publication of that photo. pic.twitter.com/0jvcEB2wEr
- Harold V (@ haroldv2) July 19, 2020
Treviño Villarreal pointed out that the bear's behavior is due to the fact that those attending the place have accustomed him to feeding it. “Today there was another dangerous encounter, so it is something that we must hurry up and capture. We are risking an accident. "Every day we ask people not to feed them," he said.
LOOK: A man in Colorado survives the attack of a bear that entered his kitchen
For its part, the Chipinque Ecological Park assured that the bear's behavior is abnormal and they will take strict measures to prevent people from putting their life and fauna at risk, according to what they wrote in a statement. “Given what happened in Chipinque, we are relieved that the people came out unscathed. We thank the visitors who gave their support to the three people and we recognize the calm they maintained during the tense moment they lived through, ”the Chipinque Ecological Park mentions on its Twitter account.
We share the following statement as a result of the video that is circulating on social networks. #Black Bear #Chipinque
For more information and recommendations: https://t.co/hxgBVofQX2 pic.twitter.com/qi9gEInqzn
- Chipinque (@ParqueChipinque) July 19, 2020
Black bears are natural specimens from northern Mexico. The upper parts of Nuevo León are its natural habitat, but part of that habitat has been transgressed by buildings.
https://www.facebook.com/ParquesyVidaSilvestreNL/posts/3987387847969803
The Nuevo León Parks and Wildlife Department also showed another video of which it claims is the same bear in one of the nearby residential areas. The animal sneaks up on a woman on the street.
https://www.facebook.com/735487039826583/posts/4269687796406472/
"Here the big problem is that between the park and the metropolitan area they are only 20 minutes away and so far this year we have had 26 sightings," said Treviño Villarreal.
wildlifeNew LionBears
