Two high school students are being investigated by the Toronto Zoo after they jumped a fence to take a selfie with a polar bear cub.
A video posted to YouTube on Thursday shows Samuel Gonzalez and Georgianna Nagy, students at Mississauga's Michael Power/St. Joseph High School, jumping a barrier and taking a photo with Humphrey, a bear cub that was born last November.
The act is now being reviewed by the Toronto Zoo with the co-operation of the school, Metro News reported.
The zoo is looking into "appropriate measures" for the students' conduct, spokeswoman Jennifer Tracey told Metro News. That could include a trespassing charge under its bylaws.
Gonzalez told the Toronto Star that he and Nagy were on a field trip and just wanted a picture of the bear.
He said a zoo staffer told them not to touch the animal and leave the fenced-off area, which he claims they did. Another staffer later warned them not to trespass in future.
Gonzalez shared the video on Instagram and thought the issue had been resolved.
But when he went back to school on Tuesday, he claims the principal and vice-principal informed him that all of its 2,500 students had been banned from the zoo for life. On top of that, the zoo wanted to press charges against him and his friend.
Tracey, however, denied the report that students have been banned.
This is not the first time people's attempts to come close to zoo animals have gone awry.
A woman was bitten by a polar bear after she entered an enclosure at the Berlin Zoo in 2009, The Daily Mail reported.
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