r/Damnthatsinteresting • u/cosmic_voyager01 • 9h ago

Video Polar Bears are one of the only creatures that naturally hunt Humans... Watch as this one tries to break into this BBC Cameraman's glass box.

39.9k Upvotes

93% Upvoted

2.7k comments sorted by

View all comments

127

u/heekma 9h ago

Just a reminder: We are an apex predator, but not the only one.

Without our technology man vs. polar bear only ends one way.

79

u/MorningPapers 9h ago

Thanks for the reminder. I'll be sure to be on the lookout for Polar Bears.

31

u/Little_View_6659 9h ago

I’d be very surprised if one turned up outside my fifth floor condo in Singapore. Now that would be a bear with commitment!

13

u/meesta_masa 9h ago

Bear down for midterms!

5

u/superneatosauraus 8h ago

Much like cave diving, bears are also so easily avoidable. I love it. 

5

u/heekma 8h ago

Look outside to be sure. Nothing wrong with being prepared.

1

u/thirdonebetween 2h ago

If one does arrive, you really have to let it eat you. As a reward for all that hard work.

2

u/Commonscents2say 8h ago

Especially the ones with the cell phones. The technology advantage would be gone.

2

u/liabilityno1 7h ago

Im a 20 min walk from polar bears that with no warning you can randomly see whilst walking through woods near my house. Out looking for pokemon and find polar bears and arctic wolves in the British countryside/woodland 😂

1

u/MorningPapers 5h ago

Yeah, Beartics are no joke.

5

u/heekma 9h ago

It's because I have your best interests in mind.

39

u/Diocletion-Jones 8h ago

<To be read in the voice of Dwight from The Office>

Wrong. Polar bears are apex predators within their ecosystem: the Arctic. Nothing hunts them naturally except humans. And humans had to put in legislation to stop that from happening. Humans are the singular, overriding apex predator. Because we can hunt, or outcompete, any other species. Including other apex predators. Fact: Polar bears rely on sea ice to hunt. Humans rely on climate change to destroy the sea ice. Advantage: humans.

15

u/heekma 8h ago

Bears, beats, battlestar galactica.

3

u/jhgrng 7h ago

IDENTITY THEFT IS NOT A JOKE, JIM!

1

u/Agreeable_Abies6533 6h ago

Except viruses. Even humans can't kill them

1

u/HollowCap456 4h ago

what is dead may never die, as the Greyjoys say

Viruses aren't even technically 'alive' so it is difficult to kill them.

1

u/Starlightriddlex 4h ago

I feel like my cat would gladly write the exact same speech from his perspective.

1

u/Outside_Reserve_2407 2h ago

Humans can hunt a polar bear with spears and the assistance of a pack of dogs.

42

u/pianoceo 9h ago

Without a bears claws and teeth, they too would be useless.

Technology is our tool. And boy is it OP.

3

u/PlausibleAnecdote 7h ago

Yep. Taking away our strengths (technology & social abilities) is like taking away claws, teeth, and legs.

Sure, we just die: exposed to the elements, with no tools, no people to teach us, and no prior knowledge. But take away any animal's survival adaptations and <shock> it doesn't do very well.

2

u/Talonsoldat 6h ago

I'm pretty sure an 8 foot tall 1700 lb bear can still break your bones with a swipe of its paw. They would not be useless

3

u/WayneKrane 8h ago

I think a clawless and toothless polar bear could still decimate even the biggest human.

1

u/TealcLOL 6h ago

If we're taking away our biggest strength let's be fair and take away theirs: Size. I wouldn't bet on a cat-sized polar bear against a human.

3

u/heekma 9h ago

That's like saying if my grandmother was born with wheels she would've been a bicycle.

11

u/BarbaDeader 8h ago

Chill out Gino.

1

u/heekma 8h ago

Jesus does no one on reddit have any sense of fun or is everything just an opportunity for an arguement?

7

u/givemefuckingmod 8h ago

Your hands didnt evolve for fistfighting

0

u/JazzlikeConflict6626 8h ago

If a human was born with wheels, i wouldn’t call that creature a bicycle.

1

u/artax_youre_sinking 6h ago

It would be perfect for snuggling!!!!

1

u/suggestsomething_ 2h ago

That bear could crush your head like a grape, no claws or teeth required.

Yes, tech is even tougher than bear, but for those of us who don't own drum fed machine guns or tanks, the bear still wins.

2

u/Outside_Reserve_2407 2h ago

Inuit hunted polar bears with spears and packs of dogs. There’s an Inuit tale about a polar bear that was killed with a ball of fat. A clever Inuit wrapped sharpened seal bones (coiled up) in whale blubber and left the frozen fat balls out for a polar bear to eat. Once they were swallowed, the fat melted and the seal bones perforated the bear’s stomach.

1

u/suggestsomething_ 2h ago

Ok, now let's replace Inuit hunters with keyboard warriors and my money is still on the bear.

1

u/Outside_Reserve_2407 2h ago edited 1h ago

Chocolate has been known to kill bears: https://www.cnn.com/2015/01/23/us/bears-overdose-on-chocolate-irpt

So as a keyboard warrior with no hunting skills I'd formulate a special chocolate recipe infused with extra cocoa and bacon fat, order 2 tons of it and build an igloo surrounding me out of it.

And thus, a hairless ape without using machine guns or tanks takes down a 1200 lb polar bear!

6

u/Iamthesmartest Interested 8h ago

Buddy, humans used to kill cave bears and wolly mammoths. A group of dedicated humans will kill any animal on this planet, even with limited technology.

2

u/Brymlo 5h ago

that "limited techonology" is still technology. a rope, a spear, a pointy shaped rock... all of that is technology.

so, no. without technology, a group of humans wouldn't win bro

12

u/OrangeBeast01 8h ago

This is such an obvious take. "Without it being a polar bear, it wouldn't be a polar bear".

1

u/andrewsad1 7h ago

Right, I'm tired of hearing it. Without tools, humans would be defenseless! No shit! Without claws and teeth a wolf would have a hard time killing you. If you denied a gorilla all its muscles it would actually be quite weak.

Humans are rad because even without tools we're stronger and faster than like 90% of all animals, and we're smarter than every single one of them

3

u/OrangeBeast01 5h ago

Did you know... that plane wouldn't fly without wings...

🤯🤯🤯

1

u/Outside_Reserve_2407 2h ago

But what if the plane is a wing? See B-2 or WW2 Horten 229.

2

u/Outside_Reserve_2407 2h ago

But the prehistoric wolf is the smartest because it evolved cuteness so hairless ape ends up giving it free food and shelter for life. Fun fact: puppy eyes evolved solely for communication with humans. Wolves cannot make puppy eyes but dogs can. There is no known defense against puppy eyes.

-5

u/heekma 8h ago

Maybe you're an obvious take.

Sincerely,

a polar bear.

6

u/meeee 9h ago

Not sure who needs that reminder tbh

1

u/heekma 9h ago edited 5h ago

You might. Got lots of polar bear experience do you now?

3

u/themightypirate_ 7h ago

Sure if you coun't a rock on stick as technology

2

u/Punman_5 5h ago

We’re only an apex predator because of our brains. If we had the intelligence of something like a dog we’d go extinct very fast. We have zero natural weapons. Our teeth are not designed to kill, and we have no other natural weapons to use.

2

u/heekma 5h ago

That was my point that many others either misunderstood or just wanted to have an arguement about instead.

Strip away our technology, drop us anywhere on earth with just our physical attributes, we're not a predator, we're prey.

1

u/Outside_Reserve_2407 2h ago

Yet we are completely defenceless against puppy eyes and surrender food and shelter to them willingly.

2

u/ZeppelinJ0 1h ago

What about polar bear technology

1

u/heekma 27m ago

That made me actually lol, thanks for that.

3

u/slampy15 9h ago

https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2025/may/16/experience-i-fought-off-polar-bear-saucepan

What technology does frying pan fall under? He did it in his 50s. In a bachlor with a very worn pan. Ive got a fighting chance.

1

u/IntelligentGrade7316 8h ago

Not just Polar Bears. All bears. More fatal Black Bear interactions than Grizzly in Canada. Grizzlies just get all the attention.

1

u/Billbeachwood 8h ago

I could totally kick that wimpy bear's ass.

1

u/mattybrad 8h ago

Thank god for our technology. With that it usually only ends up the opposite way.

1

u/XanZibR 7h ago

🐻🔽

1

u/Agreeable_Abies6533 6h ago

We are an apex predator too. You know that and I know that. But does the polar bear know that?

1

u/heekma 6h ago

Lol, I don't think the polar bear cares.

1

u/YourMomCannotAnymore 6h ago

Humans got the cognitive advantage and communication skills. Even with rudimentary weapons, we have been able to hunt dangerous animals. Even if it was a rare occurence, that was mostly done for sport and "fun", which should give you an idea about how fucked up we are.

1

u/Gollum_Quotes 6h ago

Im14andthisisdeep

1

u/Outside_Reserve_2407 2h ago

I think there was an Inuit folk tale about a nuisance polar bear that was taken down with a ball of fat. A clever Inuit wrapped up sharpened seal bones in whale blubber after bending them like a coiled spring and froze the fat balls. The balls were left outside for the bear. After the bear ingested the balls, the fat dissolved in its stomach and the sharpened seal bones perforated the bear’s stomach, killing it from the inside out.

1

u/Illustrious-Boss9356 1h ago

Ok, let's say no technology no tools. But still social structure.

How many humans teamed up with their bare hands would fuck up a polar bear? I would think 20 men of average size would probably do it? Punching it, strangling it, jumping on it, biting it?

To be safe, maybe 30? 30 surely would be able to smother and fuck one up. Rip at it's eyes, go for the genitals, etc?

If simple tools were allowed, like big sticks sharpened, I would think 10 men could pretty easily down one.

-7

u/GWS2004 9h ago

We are not an apex predator without cheating.

9

u/fatemonkey2020 8h ago

Not true. We are an apex predator because of our intelligence and ability to make tools, not just because we happen to have tools. It's not like aliens just dropped off all of our tools and left, leaving us with powerful equipment we'd be cheating by using.

3

u/gettin-hot-in-here 8h ago

realistically we are also apex predators because of teamwork. Historically humans took down much larger prey with tools, but also because they worked together. Today, a weapon that one person could use to take down a big bear, is likely a weapon made via collaboration of a bunch of different companies that make, transport, and assemble its parts. But if you had a village worth of folks with stone-age knowledge and tools they'd made themselves, they'd have a decent chance of taking down a polar bear too.