Comedy moment bear casually strolls past wildlife photographer lying in wait for the perfect shot… in the opposite direction
Comedic moment, the bear casually strolls by the wildlife photographer, lying in wait for the perfect photo… in the opposite direction
- Belgian photographer Edgard Berben was watching a family of bears fishing
- The 56-year-old said it “felt like heaven” to be so close to the creature afterwards
A wildlife photographer got more than he bargained for when a brown bear wandered off looking the other way in search of the perfect shot.
The adult bear was filmed bumping into 56-year-old Belgian photographer Edgard Berben, who was keen to take pictures of a family of unrelated bears in Katmai National Park, Alaska.
Although this looks like a cringe-worthy moment, brown bears tend to only attack humans if they feel threatened, so the photographer may be glad he was in such a subdued position.
And he felt privileged that the event had happened, saying: ‘It was extraordinary because it was a once-in-a-lifetime experience.
“It felt like heaven.”
Edgard Berben was so focused on getting the perfect shot of a family of bears heading in the opposite direction that he missed what was passing right by him.
Luckily his friend was only a few feet away to capture the moment on his phone
Mr. Berben was so focused on snapping images of various bears catching salmon jumping in one of the park’s waterfalls that he didn’t notice this one sneaking up behind him.
Fortunately, his friend was on hand to capture the moment on his phone just ten feet away.
The bear was three meters away from the photographer as it passed by him.
“Typically, there’s always been a safe distance of 82 feet,” he said.
“But sometimes there can be a close encounter of a few feet between a man and a bear — even just a foot.
“That moment captured on video felt like the purest form of animal-human interaction.”
Mr Berben said it ‘felt like heaven’ to be so close to such a creature
Wildlife watchers are not always so lucky when they come into contact with large predators.
In June, also in Alaska, a group of tourists had to shout at a grizzly bear to shoo it away after the beast was headed towards them.
In Katimi, where Mr.
The species tends to hibernate in November, so the photographer saw the family fishing in a belated attempt to stock up on energy ahead of the winter months.
Conveniently, for brown bears more than salmon, this coincides with the pattern of fish migration.
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