ASHEVILLE, N.C. (WLOS) \u2014 For the first time, we are hearing from the woman behind a now-viral video showing a mama bear doing something moms everywhere can relate to: trying to wrangle her cubs.<\/p>\n
Kristina Rupp said she was driving home on Emma Road in Asheville when traffic suddenly came to a stop.<\/p>\n
“I was actually annoyed because traffic was stopped. I thought it was a goose or something,” Rupp said.<\/p>\n
TEST YOUR BLACK BEAR KNOWLEDGE. TAKE OUR BEAR WEEK QUIZ<\/a><\/p>\n But she quickly realized it was a mama bear trying to get one of her cubs out from underneath a car. Rupp grabbed her phone and began recording, capturing the bear’s determined effort to get all of her cubs safely across the road.<\/p>\n Like toddlers, the cubs certainly didn’t make it easy. Every time the mother pulled one to safety, another wandered right back toward danger.<\/p>\n “That’s what was so funny for me. I really empathized with her, and I wanted to help her. That was my instinct, I was like she needs a babysitter,” Rupp said, laughing.<\/p>\n The video has clearly struck a chord, especially with parents. As of April 16, the video has reached 7.3 million views on TikTok<\/a>, 4.4 million views on Instagram<\/a>, 4.4 million views on YouTube<\/a>, and 950,00 views on Facebook<\/a>. Across all of WLOS’s social media platforms, it has reached a combined 17 million views.<\/p>\n Even though Rupp doesn’t have children of her own, she said her experience as a nanny made the moment instantly relatable.<\/p>\n “They were so sweet. To see this mama bear have this really complex emotion of patience, and then losing it. It was so funny. And they were being so naughty,” she said.<\/p>\n GALLERY: BLACK BEARS EMERGE FOR SPRING IN WESTERN NORTH CAROLINA<\/a><\/p>\n Beyond the laughs, Rupp said the experience left her with a deeper takeaway.<\/p>\n “We’re so lucky they’re still here, as much as they are with us having boomed this area so much,” Rupp said. “And how important it is to keep some areas wild for the bears, for all these animals, so that they don’t end up on the road.”<\/p>\n The North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission said encounters like this are becoming more common and is now expanding its “BearWise<\/a>” program statewide, aimed at helping people safely coexist with bears.<\/p>\n For many viewers, the viral moment serves as both a heartwarming and important reminder that even in the wild, moms have their hands full.<\/p>\n