The animal kingdom is a beautiful and brutal place. It’s common to see videos of animals attacking each other in the wild, feasting on fresh flesh. “They’re animals,” we say. “What else are they supposed to do?”
Throughout history, humans have separated themselves from animals based on silly reasonings. At one point or another, intelligence, tool-use, and language were all thought to be characteristics that made us special— until being observed by animal researchers in creatures thought to be “lower” and less “sophisticated” than ourselves.
The more scientists observe animals, the more we witness incredible acts that make us wonder how different humans really are from the rest of the animal world. Recently, the idea of animal kindness or “altruism”, as it’s often referred to, has been a hot topic for researchers around the world.
When a zoo patron captured video footage showing a killer bear in an unexpected act of kindness back in 2014, animal lovers and researchers went completely wild.
The video was filmed by Aleksander Medves at the Budapest Zoo while overlooking the bear enclosure. According to witnesses, a crow was drowning in the bears’ pond. The water-logged creature flapped its wings desperately, trying to get out, but its body to continued to sink down slowly.
Vali, the bear, noticed the crow struggling in the water. Leaving its carrots and snacks behind, the giant creature lumbered towards the drowning bird.
The bear slowly dipped its paw into the water then gently picked it up with its teeth.
The bear then dropped the stunned crow onto the ground and continued eating its meal.
When Aleksander uploaded the video to YouTube, it immediately went viral, inciting arguments amongst animal lovers and skeptics everywhere.
Some say the bear may have been planning to eat the crow before changing its mind, but it doesn’t really look that way. And realistically, with the bird already in its mouth, why would it drop it and stop?
According to AllCreatures.org, bears are known to show empathy when it comes to members of their own families. “They will risk their lives, even fight to the death defending their own cubs or siblings from danger,” the website explains. “Bear cubs [also] wail when hunters shoot their mothers in front of them and will moan and cry for weeks in apparent grief.”
Although bears act this way around their family members, most people attribute it to the evolutionary theory that they want their genes (and legacy) to live on. When it comes to helping animals from other species, however, the motivation becomes less clear.
Since being uploaded online, the video has been viewed over 1.7 million times.
People are in love with the kindness shown by the predatory animal, and comments on the video read:
“That’s pretty cool! After pulling the crow out the bear didn’t even care about it. Kinda like, ‘there, you’re safe. Now shut up, I’m trying to eat.”
“He was so matter of fact about it. Humans have always believed that animals were void of compassion toward anything outside their species. Love that bear. Too bad he has to live in a zoo.”
“Just look at that bear, and kindness it showed the bird, who said animals have no feelings, Think again.”
See the incredible footage below!
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