Tennessee Anglers Film 'Big Ass Bear' Savaging Adult Deer on Side of Cliff

Two fishermen filmed a "big ass" black bear devouring a white-tailed deer at the edge of a lake as they were late-night fishing.

Dustin Tolley and Adam Buckles were fishing after sundown on the Watauga Lake in Tennessee, near to the North Carolina border, when they heard a strange noise coming from the riverbank.

"Bro, that's a big-ass bear…this big bear just took a deer out at Watauga," the person filming can be heard saying in the footage, which was posted to Facebook.

"[We] heard the craziest sound coming…right towards the boat," said Tolley in a social media post.

After using a light to see what was going on, he said, "thought this thing was going to end up in the boat with us the way it came off the [mountain] in front of us."

Commenters under the video expressed their surprise at what they had seen, as black bears usually only feed on berries and other plants, and rarely hunt for prey as large as deer.

While black bears do tend to eat berries, fruit, honey and sedges most of the time, they are omnivorous, meaning that they will eat meat if they can. They have been seen to prey on younger, more vulnerable animals in the spring, like deer or elk, and also scavenge the kills of other predators, such as wolves, grizzlies, mountain lions and even human hunters.

However, they are capable of killing fully grown prey like the deer in the video on occasion, and have even been observed taking down an adult moose, usually via an ambush attack.

"The deer was very much alive and struggled for its life for several minutes before succumbing, this video starts just as the deer was taking its final breaths, could have been injured or sick but was most definitely not dead," said Buckles in a comment.

The Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency (TWRA) shared the video, and added, "85 percent of a black bear's diet is made up of vegetation, but you wouldn't know it after watching this video!"

Attacking and killing such large prey is very energy intensive, which means that black bears rarely do it unless there is no easier option. Bears in colder climes like Labrador in Canada are more carnivorous, living largely off caribou because of the lack of edible plant life in the sub-Arctic.

The fact that the bears prefer to eat food that is easy to access means that human settlements are a huge draw.

Bears have an excellent sense of smell, and can sniff out empty food containers, candy wrappers, fast food bags and even air fresheners in unsecured cars, houses or trashcans. This is an especially big problem during May and June, when their natural diet of berries is not yet available.

Bears that become habituated to human presence or eating human food may eventually become less fearful of approaching people and human settlements, like campsites or even towns.

These bears are thought to have shorter lifespans than bears who avoid human areas, because of dangers including poaching and being hit by cars.

"We want to take this opportunity to remind people not to feed or approach bears," said the TWRA in the post. "We know they appear cute and cuddly and you may want to take pictures with them but remember, they are predators and may attack when provoked or hungry. Please do not feed or approach bears."