A black bear that made contact with a woman and child outside a Gatlinburg hotel is set to be euthanized, as stated by the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency (TWRA). In the widely circulated video of the incident, which occurred on the night of June 18, the bear is seen sniffing the child’s foot and touching the woman’s clothing at Bearskin Lodge, behaviors that are indicative of the animal's comfort with humans and expectation of being fed, reinforcing the agency's position that the bear cannot be safely relocated due to its conditioned behavior.

"The bear stands up, makes contact with the lady’s clothing at one point, sniffs the child on the foot and, fortunately, leaves" Matt Cameron, a TWRA representative described, noting the bear's lack of fear and reliance on human-provided food as directly linked to irresponsible feeding by people, "The actions of irresponsible people are what is going to cause this bear to be euthanized," he observed, regretfully acknowledging the outcome dictated not by the incident captured on camera but by the precedent set by past human interactions in a statement obtained by WVLT.

While no injuries occurred during the close encounter, the potential for harm is significant, warns the TWRA. The spokesperson for the agency, Matt Cameron, added in his communication with Knox News, "This is an example of how unfearful people have become of wildlife and how misunderstood black bears can be,” Cameron said. “They are not teddy bears. ... They are large, powerful animals with sharp claws, sharp teeth and strong jaws.”

It is not an uncommon scenario to spot bears in Gatlinburg due to its proximity to the Great Smoky Mountains National Park and Cameron highlighted the challenges faced by the TWRA in differentiating the particular bear involved in the incident explaining "To know exactly for sure, if we do catch a bear in that area if it's that exact bear...I don't think it's possible," Cameron told WBIR; despite that, any bear captured displaying similar behavior will face the same fate as the agency strives to manage human-bear interactions and prioritize safety.

Understanding of the inherent risks and responsible behaviors are central to the messages by the TWRA, which expresses the weight of consequences when wildlife is improperly fed by humans; "When these situations occur, people blame the wildlife agency in charge of killing the bear," TWRA said in the WBIR piece, adding, "The actions of irresponsible people killed this bear but TWRA had to perform the physical act." The agency urges the public to stay 'Bear Wise' and to never feed the wildlife, advocating instead for giving bears clear escape routes and group intimidation should a bear approach humans, measures that reinforce boundaries crucial for the coexistence of humans and bears in shared habitats.