Mama Bear Takes Baby Bear to North Carolina Playground

When a mother and her offspring arrived at a North Carolina playground over the weekend, everyone else there cleared out so the two could enjoy the slide, monkey bars and other equipment alone.

That’s because the mother was a large black bear and the baby was her cub, says Betsie Stockslager Emry, an elementary school teacher who caught the bears’ visit on video.

“We often have bears visit; our school is in downtown Asheville, and the students are used to going into a perimeter lockdown when the families show,” Emry says. That’s not to say students and teachers are afraid of the bears, Emry adds.

She says the excited voices heard in the video are “teachers enjoying the moment.” Plus, in the clip — which she posted on Facebook — Emry notes, “This made my day. I love how the mama goes down the big slide and quickly runs to the smaller slide — only to bear hug the little one as they make it to the bottom.”