Grizzly bear captured filming herself after stealing camera

A grizzly bear has been captured filming herself and other bears after taking and trying to eat the camera of a University of Cumbria student.

John Kitchin, a visual ecologist, was filming the bears on a bridge in Knight Inlet in British Columbia, Canada.

While he was interviewing a bear biologist on a platform below the bridge, a female grizzly spotted his camera and took it.

Mr Kitchin said as soon as she smelt the camera she made a "beeline for it".

The up-close and personal encounter with the bear shows her stealing and chewing the camera, as well as capturing shots of other bears on the bridge.

Mr Kitchin said: "A young female grizzly was being very curious, chewing on the bridge, peering over at us, while her mother and sibling were on the other side of the bridge watching some other bears in the river below.

"But as soon as she smelled the camera she made a beeline for it. She actually dropped it but came straight back and then took it to the other side of the bridge to have a little chew on it.

"The point of view is just incredible: her roving eye, the dexterity of her nose, her family peering to see what she has… and her claws, legs and fur as she walks along. The footage is the closest I've ever been to a grizzly bear."