A family who lost their dog and resorted to using a drone to locate him were stunned to find him playing with a family of bears in the woods.
Footage captured of the touching moment on the eastern tip of Russia’s Kamchatka Peninsula shows the playful husky pushing a large bear in an apparent presentation.
The chubby animal then sniffs the dog and gently nudges it with its paw to see if it responds.
In the middle of a forest, the two furry creatures can be seen side by side before the husky jumps into the forest.
The footage then cuts to show the cub leaping between three other bears, as the family slowly stalks through the vegetation.
The husky can be seen in drone footage making a presentation to a large brown bear in a Russian forest.
Before long, the dog joins the trio of bears and the group of four furry dogs continues their journey through the vegetation.
The missing dog’s family was stunned by the images, as dogs and bears are not known to get along.
The dog, full of life, weaves in and out of the bears’ path while playfully interrupting the family’s walk, occasionally having fun with the cub.
And although the group is technically a pack of predators, they seem unfazed by the excited stray dog.
The drone floats higher up, giving viewers an adorable photo of the husky jumping in front of two bears before cheekily turning to see if they would play.
The two smaller bears seem to enjoy the dog’s enthusiasm and begin jumping down the path alongside the cub.
The touching moment turns into a game of chase when the husky stops dead to run after his new furry friends.
Now a group of four, the squad continues their journey through the grassy opening as the dog runs alongside the pack.
The family had reportedly lost their dog while enjoying a walk in the woods, but were shocked to see what he had been up to in his short time away.
The footage has racked up a staggering 27 million views and 12,000 comments on Instagram.
Social media users and dog lovers were quick to leave their opinions on the cute clip.
One said: “The only bear pushed him like ‘go home mate’.”
Another commented: “That bear looked at the drone at the end and said, ‘Come get your dog please.'”
‘That’s a Pixar movie!’ added a third.
Another joked: “It just goes to show that if humans disappeared today, other animals would have our dogs as pets.”
A fifth chimed in: ‘Damn huskies. We adopted one after he ran with a pack of coyotes for six months, but then we got bored. [sic]
One more added: “These are Russian Kamchatka bears, not grizzlies, although they are in the same family as brown bears.”
“Kamchatka bears are much larger than brown bears, which is why they seem so plump to Americans.”
The images surprised viewers since dogs and bears are not known to be best friends, according to bear vault.
“From scavenging disputes in the wild to territorial disputes in backyards, they have never been known to get along,” the experts said.
“It’s no surprise, then, that bringing a canine into a bear’s home carries some inherent risk of a bear-dog encounter.”
A study conducted by the University of Wisconsin in 2019 found that there was evidence that “dogs can trigger defensive attacks from black bears.”
That is why when you walk through forest areas with a pet dog, experts recommend that you keep it on a leash.