Coverage dated July 22, 2026 to July 25, 2026

State Officials Blamed Citizens for Death of Bear Stuck Atop Power Pole, but What Bystander Says She Saw Changes Everything

Headline from The Western Journal

Newest development Jul 23, 2026 · 3 reportsBear climbs to the top of a New Mexico utility pole, gets electrocuted

Well, the bear-on-the-pole story has taken a sad turn. Brownout, as I’ve named the brown bear who went viral for perching on a power pole, apparently passed away while reaching […]

The Western Journal's own description from its feed. We collect headlines and these descriptions, not full articles; read the original reporting below.

Developments in this update

2 dated developments, oldest first, newest marked. Each is named by one outlet's own headline; open its reports to see every outlet that covered it.

  1. Bear caught on camera perched atop New Mexico utility pole before reportedly suffering fatal electrocution

    Headline from Fox News ·

  2. Newest

    Bear climbs to the top of a New Mexico utility pole, gets electrocuted

    Headline from Not The Bee ·

2 reports not tied to one development ·

Reports & sources

8 articles, oldest first.

  1. New York Post

    Insane video shows hulking bear perched atop utility pole in New Mexico: ‘Didn’t believe what we saw’ (opens New York Post)

    Published

    New York Post's feed description

    The clip -- which was verified to be real -- shows the panting bear gripping the crossarm of the pole with its front paws while letting its hind legs hang down in rural Gladstone on Monday.

  2. Fox News

    Bear caught on camera perched atop New Mexico utility pole before reportedly suffering fatal electrocution (opens Fox News)

    Published

    Fox News's feed description

    Viral video shows a bear perched atop a utility pole in off a rural New Mexico highway, panting and struggling to keep its balance on the precarious perch.

  3. Independent Journal Review

    Watch: Video of Bear Atop Utility Pole Goes Viral (opens Independent Journal Review)

    Published

    Independent Journal Review's feed description

    A bear in New Mexico climbed to new heights and went viral for its efforts. The bear scaled a utility pole in a rural part of the state and garnered the attention of a passer-by before being electrocuted. The encounter…

  4. BizPac Review

    Bear hanging out on New Mexico utility poll floods local 911 (opens BizPac Review)

    Published

    BizPac Review's feed description

    Video of a bear lying atop a utility pole in New Mexico has gone viral for obvious reasons. The adventurous bear was recorded on Monday in New […]

  5. Not The Bee

    Bear climbs to the top of a New Mexico utility pole, gets electrocuted (opens Not The Bee)

    Published

    Not The Bee's feed description

    Check out this POLE-er bear.

  6. Objectivist

  7. The Daily Wire

    Driver Records Wild Video After Finding Bear Stuck Atop Utility Pole (opens The Daily Wire)

    Published

    The Daily Wire's feed description

    In a video that has gone viral across social media this week, a bear was captured stuck on top of a utility pole in New Mexico. While driving from New Mexico to Oklahoma, Shannon Mullens recorded the shocking video of the large animal aggressively panting on top of the pole on the side of Highway ..

  8. The Western Journal

    State Officials Blamed Citizens for Death of Bear Stuck Atop Power Pole, but What Bystander Says She Saw Changes Everything (opens The Western Journal)

    Published

    The Western Journal's feed description

    Well, the bear-on-the-pole story has taken a sad turn. Brownout, as I’ve named the brown bear who went viral for perching on a power pole, apparently passed away while reaching […]

State Officials Blamed Citizens for Death of Bear Stuck Atop Power Pole, but What Bystander Says She Saw Changes Everything | Since Then