Bear saves crow. But why?

by Matthew Cobb (with assistance from Prof. Ceiling Cat)

Reader Crary called this recently posted video to our attention, with the YouTube notes below. It’s gone viral ( >4 million views) so you may well have seen it. Spoiler: a bear in a zoo saves a crow from the moat around its enclosure.

My initial assumption was that the bear was going to eat it, but that clearly is not the case, as the ursine simply turns away and gets on with its carrots. It sure looks as if the bear is saving the crow. If he’s sequestering it to nom later he’s done a pretty poor job.

This “altruism” between distantly-related species mystifies both me and Jerry. Perhaps you have other ideas what is happening. At any rate, the crow was saved (we  hope).

Filmed at Budapest ZOO (Hungary), 19. 6. 2014
Camera: Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ72