A woman and her dog narrowly escaped a grizzly bear encounter in Canada.
Video posted on social media of the tense confrontation shows the animal stalking the woman’s dog, circling them as they walk along an unsealed road.
The bear comes frighteningly close to the pair, as the dog—leashed—sticks close to its owner.
The woman can be heard making loud startling noises and screaming, “No, no, no,” when the bear advances on them.
At one point, the bear rises up on its hind legs, revealing its full height.
Although the woman sounds frightened at points as she yells for the bear to stay away, she remains calm throughout the encounter and manages to shoo the bear away without it ever touching the dog, or her.
She also manages to keep her phone camera reasonably steady the entire time.
The video is believed to have been filmed in Kananaskis, Alberta, Canada, and the bear appears to be a juvenile grizzly.
In a since-deleted Instagram post, a woman who claimed to be friends with the woman who filmed the video described the incident.
“This video was taken by a friend of mine, it is the craziest bear encounter I have seen and it’s a miracle she and her dog made it out of this situation safely,” Elysia Boydon wrote.
The video was also posted by wildlife photographer Dave Landage, whose own Instagram account is populated with many close up shots of grizzlies.
“The mountains are home to wildlife, and every choice we make can mean the difference between a peaceful encounter and a tragedy,” Landage wrote in his caption on the footage.
“Keep your pets on a leash, carry bear spray, and give bears the space they deserve. This video could have ended very differently. Respect wildlife, stay alert, and help keep both people and bears safe.”
Grizzly bears are threatened in Alberta, and the population is believed to be less than 1,000, down from between 6,000-9,000 in the 1800s.
A ban on hunting the animals has seen an uptick in the population, which in turn means encounters between the animals and humans become more likely.
