Black Bear Goes Dumpster Diving

Occurred on August 24, 2022 / Gatlinburg, Tennessee, USA

: "I was in Gatlinburg, TN on August 24 at a gas station at about 7:00 p.m. when this bear came walking through about 30' from the pumps. It proceeded to the dumpster at the front corner of the lot next to the street. It then looked in the dumpster, lifted the lid so that it could climb onto the upper edge, flipped the lid all the way back, and then went into the dumpster. There are a couple of thousand bears in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. Bears that wander outside the park into the surrounding communities and become habituated to getting their meals from dumpsters, garbage cans, tourists, etc., become problem bears. Regrettably many are euthanized. This video does show how intelligent and resourceful black bears are. It's unfortunate that humans provide opportunities for them to leave their wild ways back in the woods."