Group caught on camera pulling bear cubs from tree to take pictures with them [Video]

A group of people was recorded pulling two bear cubs from a tree in North Carolina on Tuesday afternoon, apparently to take pictures with the animals and leaving one orphaned and potentially injured in the process. In an unsettling video taken by onlooker Rachel Staudt, the group of around five people is seen approaching a tree lining the fence of an apartment complex in Asheville, where the two small cubs are perched on branches. 

At first, the cubs are partially obscured by the foliage. But, as the group gets closer to the tree, a few of the individuals reach directly through the leaves to grab hold of the bears and begin to tug until each animal loses its grip on the branch to which it was clinging. Someone manages to yank one of the cubs away sooner than the other. That person …