Holidaymakers in the Smoky Mountains of Tennessee were amazed by the sight they saw when looking out into the forest near their sleeping quarters, a mother bear and her three baby bears frolicking in a hammock.
The adorable video has since gone viral online, being watched by millions of people across a number of platforms.
In the video, the youngsters can be seen trying to climb in the hammock while being flipped around. While it is not known who filmed the footage the individual said:
"During a short family vacation to the Smoky Mountains, we heard some noise outside our cabin. 'To our surprise, we discovered three bear cubs playing on the hammock while mama bear was close by, keeping a watchful eye."
The National Park Service (NPS) believes that there are around 1,500 black bears in the Smoky Mountains. It is strongly advised to stay a long distance from the bears, particularly if they have young with them, and to not feed them. Feeding the bears and encouraging human interaction can lead the bears, and humans, into danger that often sadly means that the bears have to be destroyed.
That said, attacks on humans are rare and the bears are overwhelmingly peaceful creatures.
The Smoky Mountains are one of the largest protected areas of wilderness in the US sand run between North Carolina and Tennessee.
There are estimated to be around 25,000 bears in the United States and these numbers have been held fairly steady in recent years due to an extensive protection system run by park authorities.
[Based on reporting by: The Daily Mail]
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