Gladstone, New Mexico – You don't see something like this every day! In a rural area of New Mexico, a bear was filmed sitting on top of a power pole.

Shannon Mullens, who happened to be driving past the scene with her family, reported the unusual sight to the emergency dispatch center and captured the whole thing on video.

"We really didn't believe what we saw at first, so we turned around to get another look," Mullens said.

"At first, we thought that the bear was dead, until we got closer to it and then we realized that he was still alive."

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On social media, the wild clip – recorded on Monday near Gladstone, New Mexico – has caused a stir.

In the viral video, the brown bear sits precariously high on the crossarm of a power pole, panting from exhaustion and desperately trying to keep its balance.

The US Department of the Interior shared the video on Wednesday with a tongue‑in‑cheek X post: "We appreciate the enthusiasm for American Energy Dominance, but this isn't what we meant."

The reason the bear climbed the tall wooden structure remains unclear. As Fox News reported, citing a state wildlife official, the incident sadly did not end well for the animal.

The brown bear suffered an electric shock and died before the responding officers could safely rescue it.

According to wildlife experts, bears can climb power poles just like trees when they're startled by people, traffic, or dogs. They do this to escape the perceived danger.

A similar incident in 2021 in Arizona ended differently, as officials were able to safely sedate and rescue a bear that had climbed a power pole.