Amazon TikTok Praises Driver for Confronting Bear in Order to Deliver Package

Here’s what Amazon drivers should do if they encounter a bear while trying to deliver a package: deliver the package anyway. At least, that’s according to a video posted by Amazon’s Ring, the company’s home surveillance system service. 

The video, posted to Ring’s TikTok page on Thursday, shares surveillance footage from somebody’s front driveway, taken by their Ring doorbell camera. An Amazon driver walks up to the driveway’s gate carrying a package in one hand and seemingly looking at their phone in the other, potentially for delivery instructions or to see where their next stop is. The homeowner’s voice comes over the intercom: “Stop, stop, stop right now, there’s a bear right there. There’s a bear right there.” 

“That’s a bear! Back away. Go back to your car. It’s fine,” the homeowner says as the driver comes face-to-face with what looks like a black bear sitting on one of the gateposts. The bear stares at the driver. The driver does not back away or go back to their vehicle. Instead, in accordance with the National Park Service’s recommendation on what to do in a bear encounter, they raise their arms to make themselves look bigger. The bear jumps into a bush and runs away across the street, while somebody cheers over the intercom. The driver then goes on to successfully deliver the package. 

Ring captions the video, “This @Amazon delivery driver was confronted by a bear and he knew exactly what to do next. #bear #ringcam.” Thankfully, the driver managed to scare the bear away but encouraging drivers to deliver packages in the face of wild animals is a strange choice given that Amazon delivery drivers have been attacked and killed by animals on the job. For example, after an Amazon driver was found dead in a customer's lawn after being mauled by two dogs, Amazon implemented adding a paw print on its delivery tracking app, so drivers know if a property will have a dog or not. “If we know Fido is nearby, we'll add the paw print to give you a heads up,” the update states. Additionally, numerous drivers have posted grisly photos of their wounds after being attacked by dogs to the Amazon delivery driver subreddit. 

The comments of the video are flooded with people praising the driver’s bravery, saying the bear “[didn’t] want the smoke,” and saying Amazon Prime is “unmatched” in the delivery industry. 

An Amazon spokesperson did not immediately respond to a request for comment about the company’s bear safety policy, but the company has shared animal safety policy regarding dogs in the past.