A mum bravely shielded her son after a bear leapt onto their picnic table and started eating their food.
Silvia Macias, from Mexico City in Mexico, organised a picnic at the Chipinque Park near Monterrey to celebrate her son Santiago’s 15th birthday.
But just minutes after they sat down to eat a bear arrived, climbing onto the picnic table and devouring their tacos, enchiladas, chips and salsa.
A video shows Silvia holding her son, who has Down’s syndrome, and covering his eyes due to his fear of animals.
She knew a bear encounter was a possibility, as they have been seen in the park before, and they had rehearsed a plan to deal with coming face-to-face with the animal.
Silvia said: ‘The worst thing was that Santiago might get scared. Santiago is very afraid of animals, a cat or a dog, any animal scares him a lot.
‘That’s why I covered his eyes, because I didn’t want him to see it and scream or run.
‘I was afraid that if he got scared or screamed or scared the bear, that the bear would react.
‘We decided we are going to play a game where we cover Santiago’s eyes and we are going to act like statues.
‘The bear was very close to us, we heard him as he growled, as he ate, you could smell the bear. It was really very very close.’
Thankfully the plan worked and both Silvia and Santiago remained quiet and still as the bear devoured their lunch.
Silvia kept her eyes downcast throughout to avoid antagonising the bear.
Asked if he had been scared, Santiago replied: ‘Yes, a lot.’
As the bear finished and walked away, family friend Angela Chapa spotted a plate of food it hadn’t finished eating and threw it away.
The bear followed the plate of food and Angela stood in front of the bear to shield Silvia and Santiago as they retreated slowly.
But Silvia said she didn’t consider herself a hero for her actions, aptly describing herself as ‘a mother who protected her cub’.
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