The grim truth behind viral video of baby bear struggling up snowy mountain

Very often, the heart-warming videos shared online where animals look somehow ‘human’ show something else entirely.

Sadly, that applies to a video of a struggling baby bear shared widely last week.

The video showed a baby bear struggling tirelessly up the side of a snowy mountain to get to his mother – and was shared as an inspirational example of ‘never giving up’.

But the problem is that the baby bear struggling to get to its mother is actually terrified – and is being harassed by a drone operator.

The drone operator who captured the footage flew too close to the animals in an effort to go viral, animal experts said.

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Dr Jacquelyn Gill of the University of Maine, ‘It’s a dangerous stunt by an irresponsible drone operator who should know better.

‘Harassing wildlife for a photograph, a selfie, or a video is never okay.

‘Respect animals by giving them space, and don’t share posts where animals are clearly in distress or in danger just because someone wanted to go viral.’