Shift working truckers in remote Yakutia took aim at a brown bear with their vehicles and killed the big bear.
People are still up in arms over a viral video out of the Russian Sakha Republic. Taken in 2016, it shows several men in two different trucks mowing down a brown bear as it attempted to escape. The men are reportedly saying "Crush him!" through the whole situation. We'll have to take their word for it since we don't speak Russian, but it's clear they are laughing at what's going down.
The big, snow-capable trucks can then be seen running over the animal and even backing up to try and finish it off, but it wasn't enough.
The Siberian Times said:
"Trapped under two front wheels, the workers finish it off with a crowbar to the head."
(That part is not shown in the video, but the video is quite graphic).
Sakhamin Afanasiev, Minister of Nature Protection in the republic said, "I ordered the hunting department to conduct a thorough investigation and take appropriate action. We will announce the results of the check."
It appears that the action of the men was that of reckless disregard for nature. Either the bear was not hibernating for some reason, or it was driven from its den. It's easy to see how exhausted the animal was trying to run away when it apparently gave up.
Listening to the shouts and cheers of the men, it's quite difficult to see how this could be anything but the cruel death of a native bear.
Knowing that the bear is the national symbol of Russia, there is no telling what Russian President Vladimir Putin thinks of all this, but I sure wouldn't want to have to explain it to him.
We did a little research four years after the fact and were unable to dig up any new leads on what, if anything, happened to these guys. We're not sure if they were punished or not.
NEXT: HERE ARE 13 OF THE BIGGEST BLACK BEARS EVER HUNTED
WATCH
