Story By: Lee Bullen, Sub-Editor: Michael Leidig, Agency: Central European News

Video Credit: CEN/Sebasitian Dan – newsbv brasov

This is the moment a cute bear cub frolics in the snow in front of open-mouthed tourists.

The footage was filmed in the town of Predeal in the central Romanian county of Brasov and shows the cute brown bear (Ursus arctos) rolling in the snow and playing with a snowball.

While the cameraperson films the incredible mountain landscape, the bear cub – now covered in snow – gets to its feet and begins to roll in the ice again.

According to reports, tourists were dining in a restaurant when the bear appeared outside and started to play in the snow.

Picture Credits: CEN

Although brown bears usually hibernate at this time of the year, the cute cub seems to have been an exception, and surprised visitors to one of Romania’s favourite mountain spots.

Experts say they are increasingly worried by the fact that more and more bears are not hibernating, but spend the winter wandering in search for food. WWF Romania expert, Cristian Papp said: “Bears go into hibernation mainly because of cold and a lack of food, but if they have enough food, hibernation may be shorter or not happen at all. That’s why we see in the area of ​​Braşov or in other areas in the Carpathians bears who do not hibernate at all because they have something to eat.

“Unfortunately, these are not just a few isolated cases, it is happening more and more frequently because bears were taught that there is food available because there is no proper management of organic waste. If we do not manage waste properly, we will see more and more bears in villages, towns and there will be more and more contact and potential conflict with people.”