A combo image shows the bears playing football.

Gulf Today Report

In many ways, animals behave like human beings. For instance, apart from food, dogs look up to their master for commands. They also get a shouting if they step out of line, but it goes without saying that they are very affectionate and loving. The welcome that a dog gives when a family member returns home is ineffable, too great for words.

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There have been other instances of animals showing their connect with humans, such as a whale giving a gentle nudge to a paddleboarder.

A lot of apes behave very much like human beings. A sloth also lies around doing nothing all day, something a lot of lazy people do.

Now in a fresh incident, two wild bears – a mother and her cub – have been displaying their footy skills in India. A video of the incident, which took place in the state of Odisha on Sunday, has gone viral on social media.

The incident was reported from the state’s Sukhigaon village under Umerkote block of Nabarangpur on Sunday. A group of children was playing football in an open field when they spotted the bears approaching them. The sight of the wild creatures scared the living daylights out of the kids and they fled the field, leaving the football on the ground.

The bears then turned footballers and could, if they had the speaking trait, perhaps tell Messi or Ronaldo how much they have come to love the ball, the centrepiece of attraction. According to the video, the mother bear was seen kicking the football to her cub and waiting for it to return it. The mother was also seen throwing the ball up and trying to catch it. After their "play", the bears did not leave the ball behind: they took it with them back into the forest, perhaps to enjoy more games.

This left the children stunned.

"When we were playing football, the two bears suddenly appeared on the field. We fled leaving the football. We were surprised to see them playing," said a boy, who was playing on the field.