Can grizzly bears perform CPR?
Not exactly, but video footage has surfaced showing a large grizzly superbly imitating the life-saving technique on a bear-proof trash can.
The footage, shared Saturday as part of the New York-Presbyterian’s Hands Only CPR campaign, was captured at the Grizzly & Wolf Discovery Center in West Yellowstone, Montana.
Comments in the TikTok post range from, “Best CPR training video I’ve ever seen” to “Will somebody feed the damn bear?”
https://www.tiktok.com/@hocpr/video/6827442450181770502
(TMZ posted the same video Sunday, and added the Bee Gees’ “Stayin’ alive” soundtrack.)
The clip shows the bear first trying to remove the container’s lid, but ultimately favoring immense power and bulk to try access its contents. (It remains unclear whether the bear was successful.)
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Trent Redfield, lead naturalist at the Grizzly & Wolf Discovery Center, told FTW Outdoors said the center’s grizzly bears participate in its Bear Product Testing Program. The center works with state and federal agencies in the testing of garbage and food storing containers.
The containers are filled with treats that the bears can smell, and the animals are given an hour to break them open. If the bears cannot break into the containers, the products are certified as “bear resistant” by the Interagency Grizzly Bear Committee.
Product testing is considered to be enrichment for the bears.
Redfield could not recall when the accompanying footage was captured, but said this type of scene is fairly common during product testing.
Grizzly bears at the nonprofit educational facility are animals that were deemed nuisance bears habituated to humans, or orphaned cubs of nuisance bears.
At feeding time each morning, guests can watch them turn over large boulders and even climb trees to access treats stashed before the animals are released from their dens.