Experts say the group getting pictures with the cubs put themselves in jeopardy.
Outrage has grown after a video of a group of people pulling black bear cubs from a tree for photographs spread on social media.
Onlookers videotaped the group grabbing two bear cubs to take pictures with them. The mother bear did not appear to be near the cubs.
A woman in the group seemed excited. She posed for a photo before dropping the cub. The cub tried to reunite with its sibling but could not get over the fence.
Earlier that day, the cubs were videotaped frolicking in the same tree and playing in a river near an apartment complex in North Carolina.
Experts say the group getting pictures with the cubs put themselves in jeopardy.
“If the female bear was around, she could defend her cubs which puts those people at risk,” Ashley Hobbs of the North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission tells Inside Edition.
One of the cubs was rescued and wildlife officials say they hope to release the animal back into the wild. The other cub is still missing.
The incident is reminiscent of the notorious case of when a baby moose wandering alone on a road in British Columbia was picked up by a truck driver.
The moose was flailing as he put the animal in the passenger seat. The truck driver was fired by his company for the action.
“Anytime you see any sort of wild animal, best practice is to not approach that animal,” Hobbs says.
