Bear brawl erupted as tourists hid in garage near Great Smoky Mountains, video shows

A rarely witnessed instance of bear-on-bear violence was recorded this week just outside Great Smoky Mountains National Park in Tennessee.

Two black bears got into a public brawl Monday, April 25, including shoving, punches and lots of biting.

Video of the fight was shared April 27 on Facebook by the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency, which said the incident shows “how strong and aggressive these magnificent creatures can be.”

“While it’s a little bit early for bears to engage in battle for dominance during breeding season, we believe it may have been a dispute over a food source considering the size of both animals,” the agency wrote.

The most violent moments of the video include one bear holding the other in its jaws and trying to sling it around. The recording ends with that bear breaking free and running.

Billie Jo and Micah Campbell recorded the fight from inside a garage at Ely’s Mill, a 25-acre site bordering the national park that offers cabin rentals. The couple were staying at the mill when it happened, according to an Ely’s Mill Facebook post.

“You never know what’s around the corner, or looking out (the) window at Ely’s Mill,” Billie Jo Campbell wrote on Facebook.

The video has nearly 800,000 views on Facebook, where commenters have called the two bears both beautiful and terrifying.

“You know that powerful jaw and head shaking caused some serious damage,” one woman wrote on Facebook.

“Why let them fight? Scare them somehow or something. This to me is not much different than a dog or chicken fight. For your entertainment!” another commenter posted.

Experts disagreed with that stance, however.

“Interfering with two very big bears engaged in fierce battle would not be advisable,” Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency wrote in response.

“It’s a very normal occurrence for animals to fight and oftentimes, it ends in the death of one or both animals. This one just happened to be caught on camera and made an interesting video.”

This story was originally published April 28, 2022 at 9:27 AM with the headline "Bear brawl erupted as tourists hid in garage near Great Smoky Mountains, video shows."