Watch: Mother Protects Son as Bear Jumps on Picnic Table and Eats Family’s Lunch
The wild scene took place at an ecological park on the outskirts of Monterrey, Mexico
Turns out, black bears like Mexican food. On a recent outing at a park in northern Mexico, a black bear interrupted a family’s outing to chow down on their tacos and enchiladas.
According to the Associated Press, the incident took place at Chipinque Ecological Park. Silvia Macías was visiting the park to celebrate the 15th birthday of her son Santiago, who has Down syndrome.
After purchasing lunch food, the mother and son sat down at a picnic table—and soon encountered a black bear that showed no fear of them. The bear promptly climbed onto the table and started gulping down tacos, enchiladas, French fries, and salsa. Macías shielded her son’s eyes and held him still away from the bear. The wild incident was caught on camera by Macías’s friend Angela Chapa. See it for yourself below.
“The worst thing was that Santiago might get scared. He is very afraid of animals, a cat or a dog—any animal scares him a lot,” Macías told the AP. “That’s why I covered his eyes, because I didn’t want him to see it and scream or run. I was afraid that if he got scared or screamed or scared the bear, that the bear would react.”
Her strategy worked—and the duo avoided a physical confrontation with the big, food-habituated bruin, though they lost their lunch in the process.
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According to El País, the Mexican black bear is an endangered species typically found in the mountains of northern Mexico. In recent years, they’ve been found roaming closer to and in cities within the state of Nuevo León. All black bears are considered “opportunistic feeders,” which means they’ll capitalize on whatever food sources present themselves, whether it’s a road-killed deer or in this case, a buffet of Mexican food.
