A bear that appeared to be in a hurry was caught on film tripping over and doing a forward roll while running through the New Mexico countryside.
The footage was captured by hiker Steven Varela in August, 2021, when he was in the Sangre de Cristo Mountains.
As the video above shows, the bear appeared to be running at some pace through a thinly wooded area before emerging onto a grassy plain.
It then goes out of view for a moment before it's seen on the move once again. All of a sudden, it looks as though the bear trips over and goes head-first into a forward roll before falling to the ground.
The video ends there, but according to Varela the animal was soon on the move once again afterwards.
The hiker told Storyful: "The bear just got up, looked around for a bit in confusion, and then ran off again."
He added that he went to look at what might have caused the bear to trip up and guessed it was due to water drainage.
It isn't the first time that bears have been observed rolling, purposefully or not. In 2015, a YouTube video was published showing a bear rolling down a hill at Denali National Park in Alaska.
The footage, which has since proved popular with over 4.8 million views as of Friday, shows the bear rolling sideways down a large hill for well over a minute.
It appears as though the bear is doing it on purpose as the animal comes to a stop several times on its way down and lies on its back for a short while, only to enter into a sideways roll once more.
Pandas Filmed Rolling
Grizzly bears are not the only type of bear known to roll occasionally. Pandas have been filmed doing it on various occasions in captivity.
Pandas at the Smithsonian National Zoo in Washington D.C. were filmed enjoying some winter snow back in February 2021. In a video, one of the bears could be seen doing multiple sideways rolls through the white powder, while another lay on its back and slid down a hill in a starfish position.
Sloth bears were seen wrestling in the snow at the same zoo earlier this year.
It isn't clear why the pandas were engaging in that behavior, but wildlife website North American Nature notes that bears may engage in playful activities for a number of reasons including fun, sport, and recreation and that "cubs love to slide, roll and tumble around."
Uncommon Knowledge
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
