Passerby Discovers Kodiak Bear Cubs Beside Florida Road

A man driving down a rural Florida road in the early morning hours was shocked to discover two Kodiak bear cubs. The man called the Okaloosa Sheriff’s Department and a deputy’s body camera filmed the encounter.

In video footage posted to Fox 35 Orlando, the bystander tells the officer the bears are friendly and that he found them on the side of the road near a ditch.

In the footage, the friendly and curious cubs can be seen sniffing at the deputy’s car. At one point, the bystander tells the bears to sit when one of them jumps on the deputy.

Further investigation revealed that the two cubs escaped from an inadequate enclosure at a nearby residence where someone proclaiming to be a bear trainer lives.

Deputies explained that the person housing these cubs faces various Florida wildlife violations.

According to the Alaska Department of Fish and Game, Kodiak bears are a unique subspecies of the brown or grizzly bear that live exclusively on the islands in the Kodiak Archipelago. They have been isolated from other bears for about 12,000 years.

Kodiak bears are the largest bears in the world. Large males can stand over 10-feet tall when on their hind legs and can weight up to 1,500 pounds. Females are about 20% smaller and 30% lighter than males.