This is the moment a hibernating mother bear is forced to flee her den leaving her three tiny cubs behind squealing in terror after being attacked by stone-throwing shepherds and barking dogs.
The incident took place outside the village of Doludere in Alucra District in the north-eastern Turkish province of Giresun when several shepherds approached the bear’s underground den after it had just given birth to the three cubs.
Video Credit: AsiaWire
Bears can give birth during the hibernation period as their metabolism pauses the state of inactivity to deliver their cubs before returning to a deep winter sleep.
But on this occasion, the mother bear was disturbed after the shepherds turn up and they can be seen throwing stones inside as the dogs bark at the entrance.
One of them is filming the incident including the stone-throwing and the dog barking, and then captures the moment the mother bear is then forced out to confront the dogs.
But there are too many of them and she then flees chased by the dogs. The footage shows the huge female bear running up the slope pursued by the dogs and the shepherds.
Meanwhile another one of the men was then free to enter the den, where they filmed the three clearly terrified and squealing newborn cubs lying on a bed of dried grass.
Local media claimed that the shepherds then left the area without disturbing the cubs.
Although unspecified, it is believed that the hibernating animal was a brown bear (Ursus arctos).
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Story By: Sibel Abdiu, Sub-Editor: Joseph Golder,Agency: AsiaWire
