This scene from Russia’s Kuril Islands–a chain northeast of Japan–has created a social media firestorm with animal lovers. According to reports, fishermen on Paramushir Island were apparently chasing this giant bear away from their fishing camp with their snowmobiles. The animals, of course, are just starting to wake up from their long winter slumbers, and scouring the landscape for food. But these guys went the extra mile to chase the bear away, some say they went too far and were just out to capture imagery. “This is the outrageous, unconscious behavior of adults who, in pursuit of beautiful footage, for the sake of entertainment, chase the wild beast,” said Deputy Minister of Forestry and Hunting in the region, Danila Dudarev. He chastised the men for desensitizing the animal to human contact as well.
