Recently, a thrilling scene occurred on the G331 national highway in the Greater Khingan Range of Heilongjiang, China. A self-driving tour group encountered a wild brown bear while driving. Several tourists got out of their cars to feed and take photos of the bear. One of the tourists attempted to take a close-up photo with the bear but ended up with the bear tearing at their pants leg, nearly pulling them down.
On September 23, a netizen posted a video showing a wild brown bear biting a person on the G331 national highway in the Greater Khingan Range. The video serves as a reminder for everyone to be extremely cautious and not to feed wild animals.
In the video, a self-driving tour group with a Shanghai license plate car on the G331 national highway encountered a wild brown bear. Several people got out of the car to feed the bear. One tourist approached the bear with their phone out to take a close-up photo. Suddenly, a small brown bear walked up to a tourist wearing a red shirt, bit their pants leg, and pulled backward, almost dragging the tourist onto the road. Fortunately, the tourist managed to break free, and other tourists quickly got back into the car to seek safety.
According to a report by the “New Beijing News,” in recent days, several self-driving tourists have encountered wild brown bears on the G331 national highway. One tourist mentioned that on September 22, at around 4175 kilometers on the G331 national highway heading from Mohe to Qiqian, they spotted a huge mother bear and two cubs on the roadside. Other self-driving tourists fed an apple to the cubs, and one of the cubs immediately snatched it.
An official from the forest management station in the primeval forest area of the northern part of the Greater Khingan Range mentioned that it is currently the peak season for self-driving tourism in autumn. During this time, wild brown bears in the northern part of the G331 national highway’s primeval forest area are active in searching for food. However, behaviors such as feeding from the car window, stopping and blocking the road for photos, and getting out of the car to observe at close range are still happening.
Wild brown bears are large predators with strong intimidation and destructive power. Adult brown bears can stand over 2 meters tall and weigh between 300 to 500 kilograms. They have strong limbs and sharp claws and teeth. They can easily break car windows with a single paw and overturn small vehicles. Their short-distance sprint speed far exceeds that of humans, making it difficult to escape once they launch an attack.
The forest management station in the northern part of the primeval forest area reminds all tourists passing through the northern part of the G331 national highway’s primeval forest area to keep their car windows tightly closed and doors locked throughout the journey, strictly prohibiting feeding animals from the window. If encountering a brown bear, they should drive away quickly and smoothly without stopping on the road, getting out of the car to observe, or taking photos. If a brown bear approaches the vehicle, do not honk the horn or abandon the car. Keep the vehicle sealed and slowly drive away.