Missouri Man Shares His Close Encounter with a Curious Black Bear
Bears are curious creatures. One Missouri man learned that the hard way as he's shared video of a black bear he encountered in the Mark Twain National Forest. Spoiler Alert: it did not run away.
I'm not sure when this encounter happened as YouTube shorts don't normally include share dates, but I found Shawn Mann's videos interesting. All I know based on the title is this happened in the Mark Twain National Forest in Missouri.
Notice that Shawn does everything you're told to do. He stands his ground and slowly backing away while addressing the bear in a calm voice. The bear continues to investigate.
By the time Shawn's 3rd video of the encounter played out, he was safely in his vehicle. Slowly backing away when you have a vehicle nearby is priceless.
Bear encounters like this are becoming more and more common as the black bear population in Missouri rises. Most bears will flee when they become aware of humans nearby. Despite pop culture references to them as carnivores, they normally feed on plants. However, bears are curious and animals like the one in Shawn Mann's video will sometimes linger to see what you're all about. Fortunately for Shawn, this lone bear was only curious and not aggressive. It could have gone the other way.