Three sloth bears have been captured during an awkward moment, when the huge mammals were both scared and mesmerized by... a tiny bright pink balloon.
The bears at Beekse Bergen safari park in the Netherlands were filmed by Xaviera Simons, who shared how "the bears are introduced to a balloon" on Facebook.
In the beginning of the footage, a bear is seen approaching a pink balloon floating within the enclosure. The animal cautiously noses at the intruding object, before its two interested friends approach.
The finder of the balloon then plucks up the courage to touch it, but the balloon bounces off and pretty much scares the other bear, making the big animal jump.
All three then clumsily chase the balloon on their hind legs, before one of them manages to catch it and...
BANG! A piece of pink rubber is all that's left of the fun.
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Despite their big size and sharp claws, sloth bears are actually rather peaceful animals, mostly feeding themselves on insects such as honeybees and termites, as well as fruit. Evolved from brown bears, in the wild these nocturnal species live on the Indian subcontinent. When humans pose no threat, sloth bears are believed to be tamable.