A concession stand at a Tennessee amusement park, coincidentally named “Bear Can,” had an unlikely customer this weekend.
Around 9:30 p.m. Saturday, a black bear entered “Bear can” has Anakeestaa mountaintop adventure park in Gatlinburg, through the employee entrance, which is off-limits to visitors, the park said in a news release.
The bear began to exit the stand just as a park employee entered it, startling the employee and the animal as they rounded the corner.
“At this point, the bear and the employee made brief physical contact,” the park said, adding that the employee was not seriously injured during the encounter and chose not to receive medical care. Operations at Anakeesta Park were also not affected by the incident, the park said.
Video footage, recorded by a person inside the concession stand, shows the bear searching for food while holding some in its paw.
“Oh look, he’s drooling,” one person can be heard saying in the video. “He’s only interested in this gumbo.”
After looking around and dropping a few items, the bear exited the stand and hit an employee who was entering. The animal jumped on the employee, kicking her, before running away as the employee ran towards the stand, closing the door behind her.
'Bears play an important role in magic,' says park spokesperson
Surrounded by the Great Smoky Mountains National Park on three sides, Anakeesta is no stranger to bears given their high population in the area. However, such encounters are rare and the park works closely with the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency and other local agencies to ensure such interactions are limited.
“Bears play an important role in the magic of the Great Smoky Mountains,” park spokesman Austin Martin said in a statement. “The Anakeesta team works diligently to create a safe space to coexist with native wildlife.”
The park, in its press release, added that Anakeesta “is dedicated to providing people with a unique outdoor adventure in the Smokies” and encourages “guests to enjoy bear views, from a safe distance.” .
Anakeesta is located about 42 miles east of Knoxville and about 220 miles from Nashville.
The bear could be euthanized
A spokesperson for the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency told USA TODAY that the bear may need to be euthanized based on the agency's “Bear Nuisance Matrix,” which serves as a guide for managing conflicts between humans and bears. The spokesperson added that the TWRA does not indiscriminately euthanize bears, but that because the bear entered a concession stand in the presence of humans and injured an employee, the best course of action would be to euthanize it. to avoid further conflicts.
The TWRA has already set up a trap for the bear, the spokesperson said. Although the agency sometimes relies on DNA evidence to ensure it has the correct animal, in this case no DNA evidence is available.
The spokesperson also urged the public to be responsible in areas with high concentrations of wildlife by ensuring that food scraps are properly disposed of and all waste is secured so that animals, like l Bears do not have access to unnatural food sources and are not attracted to them. areas frequented by humans.
Saman Shafiq is a trending news reporter for USA TODAY. Contact her at sshafiq@gannett.com and follow her on X @saman_shafiq7.
