Viral Video Shows Man Spoon-Feeding Pet Bear—'Only in Russia'!

A video of a man feeding his furry friend with a spoon has gone viral, delighting all corners of the internet.

The video was uploaded to Instagram by user @panteleenko_svetlana, and shows a man holding a big bowl of buckwheat, which he gently feeds to a huge brown-colored bear using a tablespoon.

"Such noble animals, saying thank you with kisses," the translated caption reads. The video was uploaded on February 9, and has amassed more than 2.7 million likes.

"Only in Russia," one person commented below the post.

"The facts that the bear patiently waits for the spoon rather than just go for the bowl is epic," commented another.

The bear appears to be the man's pet, as other posts on his Instagram show the bear being given birthday cakes and participating in photoshoots with the man's family. Captions of other posts refer to the bear as being named Savva, and she appears to have lived with the family since she was a cub.

The family also appears to have other bears that they keep as pets, including one named Stepan, who went viral several years ago after a picture of the bear appearing to marry a couple was widely shared.

The species of Savva and other bears are unclear. Russia is home to several species of bear, including the Kamchatka bear, the Eurasian brown bear and the Ussuri brown bear. The most common of these species is the Eurasian bear, which is found throughout the country, spanning from the western borders near Europe to the eastern regions of Siberia.

Adult males can weigh between 660 and 1,300 pounds, and they have thick fur, which can vary in color from dark brown to nearly blonde, depending on the region.

They are primarily solitary animals, although they may congregate in areas with abundant food sources, such as spawning salmon rivers or berry patches. They are omnivores and have a varied diet that includes berries, nuts, roots, insects, fish, small mammals, and occasionally carrion.

Brown bears typically hibernate during the winter months, although the timing and duration of hibernation can vary depending on local conditions and food availability. During hibernation, their metabolic rate decreases, and they rely on stored fat reserves for energy.

Bears that are more exposed to humans and human food are considered to be more dangerous to humans than others, as they may find their way into human areas more regularly.

"Brown bear increased tolerance toward humans [i.e., human habituation] and anthropogenic food conditioning are two of the main conflict drivers and both mostly depend on human behavior," Vincenzo Penteriani, a bear expert at the National Museum of Natural Sciences in Spain, told Newsweek.

"Additionally, because human tolerance and food conditioning can also be spread by social learning [e.g., transmission from mother to offspring], interventions at the source of the problem [i.e., frequent bear exposure to people and easy access to human-derived foods] may avoid exacerbating conflicts among socially related bears."

Bears are considered to be rather dangerous pets, even if raised from a cub, as their natural instincts and behaviors become more pronounced as they grow, posing a significant risk to human safety.

They are wild animals with specific dietary, social and environmental needs that are extremely challenging to meet in a domestic setting. Bears also require vast amounts of space to roam and exhibit natural behaviors, with even the largest private properties being unlikely to provide adequate space for a bear to thrive.

"It's truly disturbing and certainly dangerous for the people involved and absolutely not in the best interest of the bear," Lisa Wathne, captive exotic animal specialist and spokesperson for the Humane Society of the United States, told Cosmopolitan in 2016. "Obviously, this bear is a huge animal, he's a wild animal, despite this couple's claim. Having a bear live in your home is not how an animal is domesticated."

Keeping a bear as a pet is illegal in many countries, including Russia. However, there are several states in the U.S. where keeping a bear as a pet is legal, including Alabama, Delaware, Nevada, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Carolina and Wisconsin.

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