A woman is lucky to be alive and unharmed after she exited her vehicle to take a selfie with a large brown bear. The bear was lounging on the side of the road, but as she got uncomfortably close to it, it lunged at her. Although the bear did make contact with her before she escaped into her vehicle, the woman escaped with minor bruising. Sihame El Rhazzali shared her footage in hopes it will encourage other people not to do what she did.
Videos by Outdoors
“[The bear] was so calm, that I forgot it’s a wild and dangerous animal,” El Rhazzali wrote in her Instagram post sharing the terrifying video. “Luckily, a car behind me saw what was happening and honked — that scared the bear away. But just before it ran off . . . it jumped on me! It left a bruise on my back because of his weight. It happened so fast, that I didn’t realize the situation was so scary, I had no idea in the moment till I watched the video later.”
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While I don’t condone this woman’s choices to get close to the bear in the first place, I do commend her for sharing her story. She adds in her caption: “If one day, you meet a bear, don’t take it as a granted, stay away and safe!!!”
People Are Angry
The comments section is rife with outrage.
“If that bear had succeeded in attacking you, it likely would have been euthanized. It’s not fair to the bear. Please don’t get too close to or interfere with wildlife – their lives are worth more than social media likes or views,” wrote one person.
El Rhazzali responded, saying: “I understand, you are right. I didnt thought properly at this moment. I was doing this for social media, it was for my own, I saw it so cute, I wanted to have a memory, without thinking. Now I am putting it on social media, to show to people in Romania to be cautious, to don’t forget that it’s a wild animal and to don’t do the same mistake as me.”
Watch as a bear lunges for a woman who gets too close to take a selfie:
Header stock image by Sebastian Condrea/Getty Images
