Industrialist Anand Mahindra shared a video on his Twitter handle that is sure to give everyone an “adrenaline rush”. Shot in the hills of the Nilgiris, Tamil Nadu, the video, which was a little over a minute, shows a biker recording his journey through a narrow stretch of a winding road, giving his point of view. Surrounded on either side by greenery, the biker keeps on negotiating the curves until he spots something and decides to halt — a little ahead, a family of three bears had occupied the road. It's all calm with the bears lazing on the road, till something happens.
Halfway into the video, we can see one of the bears starting to maintain eye contact with the biker. Suddenly, the animal charges towards the biker and the video comes to an abrupt end. Since the ending is inconclusive, we are left hanging on to what happened next.
In his post, Mr Mahindra, too, asked viewers to watch till the end to feel the rush.
Here's the video:
Somewhere in the Nilgiris... Wait till the end of the clip if you want to feel an adrenaline rush...To the @jawamotorcycles team: We need to introduce a ‘Bear Charge' warning on our bikes... pic.twitter.com/Zy24TuBroF
— anand mahindra (@anandmahindra) June 24, 2021
Since being posted yesterday, the video has been viewed over 1.2 lakh times and got over 4,200 likes. It elicited a number of reactions, from people commenting about “sloth bears” to a user even posting a clip of both the rider and bears being “safe”.
Ahmed Sayeed, the user, wrote, “Both are safe. The rider while on his way back home. Still bears in the same vicinity.”
Both are safe. The rider while on his way back home. Still bears in the same vicinity. pic.twitter.com/n1tcAhTzQE
— Ahmed Sayeed (@sayeed4470) June 24, 2021
Another user, Harish Rao, wrote that “seeing mother and cubs” and also “the fact that the riders maintained a responsible distance” made it a “double delight”. He added, “Sloth Bears - as are most wild animals - so rare to sight, we need to give them right of way and maximum possible space.”
Double delight - not just in seeing mother and cubs. But also in the fact that the riders maintained a responsible distance. Sloth Bears - as are most wild animals - so rare to sight, we need to give them right of way and maximum possible space.
— Harish Rao (@simpleharish) June 24, 2021
Another user said it was “scary” and went on to add, “I had a jump in heartbeat almost dropped the phone.”
It's scary... Actually in the end... Being chased by one.. I had a jump in heartbeat almost dropped the phone.. ????????
— Polybags (@Polybags9) June 24, 2021
Ajoy Thipaiah warned people not to mess around with Indian Sloth Bears saying that they have poor vision but a great sense of smell and hearing. He added, “Extremely short tempered and a mother with cubs is best kept as far away as possible, not like the biker here. We see them in plantation areas frequently and they can do serious damage.”
Indian Sloth Bears have poor vision but have a great sense of smell and hearing. Extremely short tempered and a mother with cubs is best kept as far away as possible not like the biker here. We see them in plantation areas frequently and they can do serious damage.
— Ajoy Thipaiah (@AThipaiah) June 24, 2021
Here are a few other reactions:
Bikes R a grave threat to bears for many reasons.High speed & quiet human activity in bear habitat is a grave threat to bear/human safety,Certainly can displace bears fm trails & along trails.Also degrade d wilderness character of wildareas by mechanized travel at abnormal speeds
— Manoj K Jha aka Manu ???? (@manojgjha) June 24, 2021
Pretty fortunate they weren't close to the bend. Bears have poor sense of sight, get startled and lash out.
— Kyang Thang རྐྱང་ཐང་ (@TheCelticCross) June 24, 2021
Many a times Monkey charge would also give the same adrenaline rush while on a bike ride
— Partha (@Psenapati) June 24, 2021
Real thrilling & frightening too.
— shri_2501 (@2501Shri) June 24, 2021
Sloth bears are most dangerous ...to come across..in the wild. First thing is to turn around and start moving away. They charge without any reason. Wild boars too..
— Veerabhadrappa Desai (@Veerabh95737769) June 24, 2021
What do you think of the entire episode? Let us know in the comments section below.
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