Watch: ‘Ninja Bear’ surprises photographer out of nowhere in Yellowstone

A wildlife photographer who is a regular in Yellowstone National Park was putting his equipment away in his vehicle when a black bear appeared out of nowhere—and only 10 feet away.

It wasn’t until much later—when looking for footage of a beaver—that Ron Sterbenz realized his camera was still rolling during the encounter, and that he had caught the black bear on video.

“We quickly moved away to give the bear space,” he wrote on the video. “No idea where this Ninja Bear came from.”

Sterbenz and three friends were walking back from the Yellowstone River Bridge where they had been looking for wolf activity. They didn’t see any wolves but spotted a lone black bear far below them, under the bridge.

“After I got back to my car while putting my equipment in the back, I found a black bear standing next to me at about the same time,” Sterbenz explained to USA Today/For The Win Outdoors. “My camera just happened to be pointing in that direction and I had captured the bear standing there watching me about 10 feet away.”

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“This is the closest I have been to a bear and just looking right and seeing one (or anything) that close,” Sterbenz told For The Win Outdoors. “It does get your heart racing. I did feel a little relieved that he found the camera and tripod more interesting than me. We were both clearly startled.

“We joke that black bears can move like Ninjas and be on you or by you without being detected. Black bears seem to be the forest’s stealth operators.”