VIDEO: People yank very young bear cubs out of tree 'for selfies'

Shocking footage has emerged out of North Carolina, capturing a moment when a group of people decided to pull black bear cubs from a tree limb, presumably for the sake of taking photos with the wild animals.

According to reporting from ABC 13, the incident took place near a Buncombe County (home to Asheville) apartment complex, with one of the bears seen getting dropped by one of the people in the video before running off and attempting to climb back over a fence.

Authorities were contacted, but once they arrived on the scene, only one cub was found despite multiple cubs being seen in the video. The cub that was found was transported to a rehabilitation center for care and a potential future release. The cub was reportedly wet and cold and appeared to have been alone for "quite some time."

As can be seen in the video, the cubs are extremely young and would be incapable of fending for themselves. There hasn't been a report of a mother bear being seen in the general vicinity at the same time as the cubs. That being said, mother bears are known to leave cubs alone from time to time, traveling up to two miles away as they search for food.

Watch the shocking footage below:

This video puts a big no-no on display – never attempt to touch or feed a wild animal. Even if there was a fear that the cubs had been abandoned, the correct course of action is to contact a wildlife expert first.

If you see something like this happening, report it to authorities. Hopefully, they'll be able to arrive fast enough to provide an animal in question with the attention and care it needs. It's unclear if the people involved in handling these wild cubs will face any sort of charges.