Bear walks on Anakeesta’s TreeTop Skywalk in Gatlinburg

GATLINBURG, Tenn. — Spring is in the air at Anakeesta as the mountain theme park gets ready to kick off its debut seasonal event “Blooms and Tunes.” Anakeesta’s newest event isn’t the only thing waking up in the Great Smoky Mountains, the mountains’ wildlife is, as well. The park saw just how true that was Thursday, March 25, when a black bear walked on Anakeesta’s TreeTop Skywalk in Gatlinburg.

A rainy day for guests, Thursday appeared to be the perfect day for a wilder type of visitor to the park. An Anakeesta employee, Barrett Ogle, managed to grab video of the bear as it came from out of the fog. Ogle is a manager on duty at the park, and all managers on duty are trained and prepped for visits from bears like the one who stopped by the park Thursday.

Anakeesta visitors and employees may see some bears during the busy season, and while most remain on the forest floor beneath Anakeesta’s TreeTop Skywalk, this one couldn’t keep himself from trying out the Smoky Mountain views from up above.

This bear even made the news at WATE Channel 6, a Knoxville-based news station.

According to the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency, black bears are rarely aggressive towards humans and typically avoid contact with them; however, they still must be respected and visitors to the area who encounter them must keep a safe distance. The agency has several guidelines for when people encounter our wild neighbors, which are:

• Never feed or approach bears!
• If a bear approaches you in the wild, it is probably trying to assess your presence.
• If you see a black bear from a distance, alter your route of travel, return the way you came, or wait until it leaves the area.
• Make your presence known by yelling and shouting at the bear in an attempt to scare it away.
• If approached by a bear, stand your ground, raise your arms to appear larger, yell and throw rocks or sticks until it leaves the area.
• When camping in bear country, keep all food stored in a vehicle and away from tents.
• Never run from a black bear! This will often trigger its natural instinct to chase.
• If a black bear attacks, fight back aggressively and do not play dead! Use pepper spray, sticks, rocks, or anything you can find to defend yourself. If cornered or threatened, bears may slap the ground, “pop” their jaws or “huff” as a warning. If you see these behaviors, you are too close! Slowly back away while facing the bear at all times.