A beary big surprise! Beautiful sloth bear sets up home in abandoned guardhouse

A photographer had a lucky escape after nearly walking into an abandoned guardhouse - only for a sloth bear to emerge moments later having made it its home.

Mark Meth-Cohn, 67, had been searching for tigers in Ranthambore National Park in northwestern India when he spotted movement inside the derelict building as he was leaving the reserve.

Unaware of what was inside, the group was about to approach the structure when the unexpected occupant revealed itself.

“We were on the way out of the reserve after an unsuccessful evening searching for tigers when we suddenly spotted activity in the old building,” says the retired engineer from the UK.

Instead of a closer look, they stopped just in time - as the bear stepped out from the doorway, showing it had taken up residence inside the long-abandoned outpost.

“Instinctively, we quickly pulled up, just in time to see the bear emerge. There was no time to think or prepare; I simply captured the moment as it unfolded.”

The dramatic image shows the sloth bear framed in the doorway of the crumbling guardhouse, now repurposed as a shelter in the wild.

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