So I take it everyone on social media – cause 99.9% of it is videos of animals – has seen that video of a baby bear struggling to ascend a snowy mountain only to fail over and over.
To most it was cute. To me, it was a shocking throwback to the myth of sisyphus.
In Greek mythology, Sisyphus was the dodgy king of Corinth who was punshed in Hades for his wrongdoing to repeatedly roll a huge boulder up a hill only to have it roll down again as soon he reached the summit.
The footage was taken by an aerial drone in the Magadan Region of eastern Russia. It shows the struggle of a mother bear watching on in panic and possible embarrassment as her cub fails to reach the top of the mountain.
Try as it might, the slant proves just too tricky for the cub, who slides down from whence it came not once, not twice, but three times.
While to the average Joe this might have come across as a simple trek between mother and child, it was in fact – to some critics – a desperate attempt to flee the scene, triggered by the drone.
Biologist Dr. Jacquelyn Gill took to her Twitter to slate the video, which she firmly believes was responsible for the panicked getaway of the bear and cub.
I don’t think I drew breath once watching this … pic.twitter.com/YzGg4gLIkG
— Storm Huntley (@StormHuntley) November 4, 2018
She wrote:
The video going around of a bear cub scrambling up a snowy cliff to get back to its distressed mother is being shared as a heartwarming metaphor for persistence. It’s not. It’s a dangerous stunt by an irresponsible drone operator who should know better.
Harassing wildlife for a photograph, a selfie, or a video is never okay. Respect animals by giving them space, and don’t share posts where animals are clearly in distress or in danger just because someone wanted to go viral.
The video going around of a bear cub scrambling up a snowy cliff to get back to its distressed mother is being shared as a heartwarming metaphor for persistence. It’s not. It’s a dangerous stunt by an irresponsible drone operator who should know better.
— Dr. Jacquelyn Gill (@JacquelynGill) November 4, 2018
She added:
Cars, the internet, alcohol, and pharmaceuticals are regulated, and using them illegally can get you fined or thrown in prison.
In some countries, you have to undergo extensive training or certification to use drones, and harassing wildlife is also often illegal. Arguing for responsible use isn’t unreasonable.
ICYMI, there is a guide to filming animals with a drone and not leave them climbing steep hills.
You can find out about it all right here, or just… you know… stop filming animals. We pretty much know everything there is to know about them surely, bar the micro-details? Like if someones discovers bears usually have two fingernails longer than the rest you can forget about grabbing my attention.
Stop making them run.
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