Downtown Gatlinburg had an uninvited guest Saturday when a black bear charged through a busy parking lot, sending tourists and shoppers racing into cars and up to nearby balconies. Balcony video shows the animal slipping between parked vehicles while people shout and scramble for cover.
The raw clip was shared with Storyful, then picked up by national outlets and aired on ABC News, which pointed out that the bear itself moved calmly through the lot as bystanders rushed to their vehicles. The short video captures several tense minutes as people focus on getting inside and putting metal or concrete between themselves and the animal.
The recording was credited to Lara Bynum, who told Storyful she ran to her balcony after hearing screaming and “was very nervous for all of the people running through the parking lot,” according to Storyful via Yahoo. Bynum said the bear eventually crossed the street and drank from a nearby river, and her clip has since circulated widely across social platforms.
Officials say encounters like this are not unusual around the Smokies. The National Park Service estimates roughly 1,900 black bears live in Great Smoky Mountains National Park, which works out to about two bears per square mile, and it reports the park averages about 339 negative human-bear encounters per year. The agency urges visitors to give bears plenty of space and not to lure them in with food or garbage, noting that many conflicts are driven by easy meals, according to the National Park Service.
Local reporting has tied the recent rise in sightings to seasonal movement and abundant food sources, and officials have pressed residents and businesses to lock down trash and remove other attractants. New penalties for feeding bears took effect July 1. For a recent example of how bold some animals have become, see Hoodline’s earlier coverage of a bear climbs into pickup near Baskins Creek, alongside regional reporting from WVLT on increased bear activity as mating season ramps up.
How to stay safe and avoid conflicts
Wildlife authorities say the safest move during a close encounter is to stay in your vehicle or on a secure balcony, keep children and pets inside, and never approach or feed a bear. They recommend using designated pull-offs instead of stopping in the road, storing food and trash in bear-resistant containers, and reporting bears that linger in developed areas to park or wildlife officials. These steps track with guidance from the National Park Service aimed at cutting down on repeat encounters.
There were no immediate reports of injuries in the initial media coverage, and the footage does not show law enforcement or wildlife officers intervening on camera, ABC News reports. Officials emphasize that preventing dangerous run-ins is a shared responsibility, with businesses, visitors and residents all urged to keep attractants secured so bears stay wild and wary of people.
