A video taken of the moment a young bear, who was in the middle of a road, high-fived a driver has gone viral on TikTok.
The footage was posted on the platform last week by Rebeca Elena Gh, who goes by the username @ebecaelenagb.
She captioned the short video: "Chill day", and so far it has managed to rack up an impressive 10.3 million views, 1.8 million likes, and more than 8,000 comments.
At the start of the clip, three bears are seen walking alongside traffic on a busy road, when suddenly, one of the bears approaches a person in their car.
Take a look at the video here:The driver reaches out to the bear, with the creature initially failing to touch the driver after it loses its balance. Regaining its balance, the bear once again reaches out to the driver, managing to high-five the individual.
The bear then proceeds to stare at the person behind the wheel before returning to its group, which is still in the middle of the traffic.
The video closes with another bear, presumably the first bear's mother, approaching the young animal - seemingly unimpressed by its interaction with the human in the vehicle
Needless to say, people had plenty to say about the inter-special high-five, with one commenter writing: "Momma bear did not approve that."
Another wrote: "He looked at the person like 'I didn't think you was going to actually do it but... okay.'"
However, some were less positive about the content in the video, arguing that the driver should not have touched the bear.
"While this is cute and makes you appreciate bears, it's actually not smart as it puts the bears in potential danger down the road (not literally)," said a different user.
Another responded: "Agreed. I wish everyone would respect them from a distance. People don't realize that these bears being this friendly means they get put down."
It turns out that the critics' concerns are totally justified. In fact, back in June 2020, a bear in Colorado Springs bear was put down after it managed to break into someone's home.
Per KKTV, in a statement following the incident, Colorado Parks and Wildlife (CPW) explained that bears that become "too comfortable around people can learn to open doors, destroy property or even become aggressive towards humans."
Often, bears that display violent behavior towards humans are put down.
"It's always a hard day when we have to euthanize a bear," CPW's District Wildlife Manager, Cassidy English, added at the time.
