Camper wakes up to bear sniffing tent

A camper managed to film the moment he woke up to a bear poking around outside his tent in Canada.

David Weale was camping along the Capilano River in late July when he had the close encounter.


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He woke up to the bear sniffing around, before it broke and tent pole and ripped some mesh. David then decided to get out of the tent, coming face to face with the animal.

He said he managed to escape unscathed by sharing food with the animal, explaining: "I put one smoothie on the ground, opened the lid and he followed me up there. He just went down and started licking out the smoothie like a dog would."

However, his survival instinct has been criticised by authorities and online users as feeding wild bears can make them 'human-habitualised' (less afraid of humans) and can actually lead to bears being euthanised.

Speaking to Global News, Provincial WildSafe BC Coordinator Frank Ritcey said: "The bear can become habituated very quickly, and if he gets a food reward that's when there's a real issue."

One YouTube user wrote: "What are you doing? You are going to get the next person this bear encounters torn to shreds or get the bear put down. This is how people die. "

Conservation officers often remind campers not to leave food in their tents and to keep supplies in a car. According to the Huffington Post, David added: "I don't know if it's the smoothies that attracted the bear, but maybe my possible mistake can help someone else."