Woman Snaps Selfie During Close Encounter With A Black Bear In Mexico

The hikers were out and about walking through Mexico's popular Chipinque Ecological Park in San Pedro Garza Garcia when the unusual incident occurred.

The bear simply wandered up to the hikers and got on its hind legs to have a good sniff of one woman in the party.

Remarkably, the three women managed to keep themselves calm - not an easy feat when confronted with a large black bear - as the bear investigated the interlopers into its habitat.

Obviously, this could have turned into a disaster situation pretty quickly, but fortunately the bear seemed predominantly interested in just smelling the woman, whilst the bystanders tried to distract it.

However, the woman - realising the unique nature of the opportunity presented to her - grabbed her phone and managed to snap a quick selfie with the bear.

Then, it simply went about its business, whilst the women beat a hasty retreat to get away from the situation.

The video has since gone viral online, and has been viewed millions of times. It even managed to reach former basketball star Rex Chapman, who commented: "Oh. my. goodness. She's a rock. I want this girl in my foxhole..."

Journalist Yashar Ali also weighed in, confirming that the woman's actions under the circumstances were not only brave, but also the right thing to have done.

She explained: "We don't see the lead up, but they handle themselves well. If a black bear is this close to you, it's too late to scare them off unless they're attacking you, then you should fight back.

"Otherwise, stay calm...don't run. Don't do that with a grizzly if they attack you...play dead."

Well, it's easy to understand that advice, but probably more difficult if a bear wanders out of the woods and starts smelling your hair.

Try not running away as fast as you can then.

Whilst this bear was obviously just curious and didn't present any danger to the women, it's actually pretty unusual for a black bear to attack humans.

Unlike their relative the grizzly bear, black bears ordinarily stay well clear of humans, and - despite being more than capable of killing people - show little interest in doing so.

It's still not recommended to stop for a selfie if you see one, though.