Grin & Bear It: See Nashville Zoo's Andean Bear Hopping With Boy

NASHVILLE, TN -- The Nashville Zoo's Andean bears were already popular as earlier this year Peru natives became the first bears to take up residence since the move from Joelton to Grassmere 21 years ago.

The demand to see the spectacled ursines is only bound to grow after an adorable video went viral this week.

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Five-year-old Ian Parker and his family are zoo members and love to visit. Earlier this week, while checking out the Andean bears, one of bears hopped into the cool pool, no doubt getting respite from the Middle Tennessee heat, far warmer than the normal weather up in South America's Andes Mountains.

Little Ian decided he'd have a few hops himself and began jumping in front of the enclosure's glass. And the bear decided he'd have enough with the swimming and decided he'd join Ian in an impromptu game of copycat (copybear?).

Ian's dad, Patrick, captured the cute scene on video and shared it on Facebook where it has more than 1 million views and 21,000 shares. According to Patrick, the whole thing went on for at least 10 minutes.

Photo via Nashville Zoo