A frequent visitor to the Crystal Lake Recreation Area in California’s Angeles National Forest has four paws and a lot of dark-brown fur. It’s a black bear, and, apparently, it comes around a lot. A video of the “friendly” bear walking around one Crystal Lake campground is gaining a lot of attention online, and some people are saying this behavior is dangerous for the bear.
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Raphael Carreon is the camper who recently filmed the bear and posted the video on Instagram. Several people chime in in the comments section saying they too have either seen or heard of this bear in the area, and one person even claims the bear has a name—Chili.
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Although the bear has brown fur, it’s a black bear (Ursus americanus). American black bears can have black, brown, or even blonde fur. Brown bears, including grizzly bears, no longer live in California (although they used to).
In his Instagram post, Carreon claims the bear “was abandoned by the mother for being too friendly to people.” More likely, the bear sniffed out some food at that campground once, and then it became hooked on the promise of an easy meal, so it keeps coming back.
Unfortunately, this habituation to people and human food does not always end well for bears. Officials might try to capture and relocate the bear if they suspect it will become a threat, or they might euthanize it to avoid any potential threat to human life. Hopefully, campers will refrain from feeding “Chili,” and he/she will learn to find food elsewhere.
Check out the resident black bear in a California campground:
Header stock image by Raimund Linke/Getty Images
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