Video of mother bear playing football with cub goes viral; watch it here

A surprising video of a mother bear playing football with her cub in the jungle has gone viral on social media. The 1.02-minute video from Nabarangpur district in Odisha, shows the two wild bears playing with a football. The video was recorded on 11 September when some boys from the Sukhigaon village who were playing football in the jungle encountered the mother bear and her cub. Frightened at the interruption, the boys left the ball behind and ran away. As they watched the scene unfold from a distance, something unexpected happened. To their surprise, the bears did not chase or attack them but began playing with the ball instead. The mother bear kept tossing the ball back and forth with her cub, while the boys watched in amazement. The two bears looked like they were having a fun time with the ball, running after it and kicking it back to each other. The two bears later disappeared into the forest with the ball. The video, posted by ANI, has received a heart-warming response on social media. Several social media users were left astounded by the happy scene playing on their screens. The video has garnered over 34,000 views and 1,800 likes to date.

#WATCH | Two wild bears were seen playing football at Sukigaon in Umarkot area of Nabarangpur district, Odisha

"It is an animal instinct. They examine & try to find out the nature of any object that they find for the first time," the DFO said on Monday.

(Video: Forest Dept) pic.twitter.com/c2YnVZqg7j

— ANI (@ANI) September 14, 2021

The forest department said playing with the ball was an instinct for the animals. “They examine and try to find out the nature of any object that they find for the first time," the divisional forest officer said. This is not the only time people reacted to such a happy video. Recently, the video of a child’s reaction to a box of pizza in front of her garnered lots of appreciation on social media, with many users left smiling at the relatable video. The video is capturing hearts worldwide, with over 10,000 views to date. Many found the girl’s happiness on seeing pizza relatable and amusing.