Bear Gets Swept Downstream While Crossing Raging River In California

A video captured the intense moment a bear in Washington, California attempted to cross the raging river and nearly didn’t make it.

The video, shared on Facebook by KCRA 3, was filmed by Washington’s fire chief, Mike Stewart.

In the clip, you can see a bear plunge into the South Yuba River and immediately gets pushed underwater.

The ice-cold water is fed by snowmelt this time of year, and the rapids intensely pushed the bear around and under. In the background of the video, you can hear people worrying for the bear’s safety and wondering if she’ll make it across.

The bear gets sucked under for long periods before surfacing briefly among crashing rapids. Eventually, she makes it toward the other side of the shore, a good ways downriver from where she started.

Before she’s able to exit the water, the current starts sucking her back upstream!

Thankfully, Stewart confirmed in a comment that the bear did safely make it out of the water. He noted that a human would never have been so lucky.

You can watch the footage below:

It’s a good reminder to heed all safety warnings about river conditions and carefully evaluate a river spot before swimming.