Bear Gets Sucked Down A Waterfall In Yosemite While Cameraman Is Laughing And Freaking Out

bear falls down waterfall Yosemite National Park

YouTube / LiveLeak


Don’t worry, bros, this bear that gets sucked down a Yosemite waterfall while trying to swim across a river survived and emerged completely okay. Sure, that bear was probably turning the water as brown as its fur as it bounced around the rapids on the way down. Bears are great swimmers, and you’ve probably seen this in action if you’ve ever been to the zoo. But anyone who swims too close to the falls is going to get sucked over, and this bear was no exception.

This footage was filmed by backpacker Chris Davis who was hiking with two friends near Vernon Lake in Yosemite National Park. The trio huddled together when they saw the adolescent black bear to make themselves look larger in the eyes of the bear. There was another juvenile bear in the area so they stayed standing on the bridge across Falls Creek as the entire event unfolded.

Nobody ever expects to get sucked down a waterfall. Kayakers paddle into them, as do white water rafters. They’re all doing this with the expectation of what is about to happen. Bears aren’t stupid. They know to stay away from the tops of waterfalls. This bear was just caught at the wrong place at the wrong time. It underestimated the strength of the stream and was sucked over the falls.

The video cuts off prematurely and we don’t get to see the bear emerge at the bottom of the waterfall unharmed. However, hiker Chris Davis told Grind TV that the bear ended up a-okay. Here’s what Davis told Viral Hog and Grind TV:

The bear got sucked down the waterfall and started bouncing around through the whitewater rapids.
“I don’t think that was supposed to happen,” Davis said in the video.
Davis stopped recording, “fearing the worst and feeling really guilty over laughing.”
But it had a happy ending, though you don’t see it in the video.
As far as he could see downstream, Davis spotted the bear getting out of the water on the opposite side of the river and it seemed to be OK.

Should he really feel guilty over laughing? If this was me who’d been sucked down the waterfall only to emerge downstream with my ego in check I’d fully expect each and every one of you bros to laugh at me. Do we really need to feel bad about this just because it’s a bear? Bears are the kings of Yosemite National Park, and I don’t see any reason we shouldn’t be able to laugh at the King making a slight ass out of himself.

(h/t GrindTV)