Man eaten by bear while filming video about how to not be eaten by a bear

GARDINER, Mont. – A popular YouTube creator was eaten by a 450 lb. grizzly bear in Yellowstone National Park while filming a video on effective techniques on how to survive a bear attack.

Todd Welling, 44, was an outdoor survivalist and adventurer who rose to fame through his viral social media presence where he attempted bigger and stupider stunts to try and educate the desk-ridden public about how to survive worst case scenarios.

“Todd’s death is a terrible loss to the extreme sporting community,” said William Burnstein, Welling’s videographer and occasional lover. “But it brings me joy knowing he died doing what he loved most, risking his life in easily avoidable dangerous situations.”

The video Welling was filming at the time of his death was focused on testing the theory that a woman in the woods would rather find a wild bear than a man—specifically, which is more dangerous in a one-on-one bareknuckle fight.

To film the video, Welling and Burnstein traversed into the wilderness for eight days before stumbling on the perfect location a quarter mile from the park’s entrance. There, Welling baited and waited for an unsuspecting bear to approach.

Three days later, a mama grizzly bear and her cubs arrived, unaware of the raggedy explorer hiding in the bushes. Welling sprang from his hiding spot and began taunting the beast for some “epic footage”.

Then, disaster stuck.

“Look, I’m just trying to mind my own business, but people keep coming up to me, and harassing me, about my thoughts on women who choose me over men,” said the bear. “If it was just me, fine, whatever, but my cubs were there, and I don’t want them exposed to this kind of predatory behavior. I guess I just snapped—I am a wild animal, after all.”

The bear tore Welling apart, limb-by-limb until his body was nothing more than a bloody pulp—all of which was caught on camera by his trusty sidekick.

“Will I be releasing the footage?” Burnstein said. “I mean, yeah, probably. It’s what Todd would’ve wanted.”

As you might imagine, the tutorial on how to protect yourself from a bear attack has been canned. But, for those of you anxious about getting more Todd Welling survival videos before the memorial piece is edited together, we suggest you check out his clips on how to pump your stomach after eating poison, 10 survival tips after you amputate your arm, or our favorite How to survive 10 impossible to survive scenarios.