By Saloni Mathur
**WITH FULL PERMISSIONS**
THIS COMEDIC video shows a bear strolling casually past a wildlife photographer who appears to be looking the other way.
In this clip, an adult bear can be seen nonchalantly strolling past the 56-year-old Belgian photographer, Edgard Berben, who was lying on his front snapping images of a family of unrelated bears at Katmai National Park, Alaska.
Edgard was so engrossed in snapping images of other bears catching salmon that he did not notice this one sneaking up behind him, but luckily, his friend whipped out his phone and took this video from just ten yards away.
The bear got as close as three feet from Berben when walking past him.
“Usually, there was always a safe distance of 82 feet,” he said.
“But sometimes there can be a close encounter of several feet between human and bear – to even just one foot.
“That moment captured in the video felt like the purest form of interaction between animal and human.
“It was extraordinary because it was a once-in-a-lifetime experience.
“It felt like heaven.”
ENDS
