Camper's 15-minute bear encounter could lead to the animal's death

A Canadian camper's actions after a curious bear wandered up to his tent could lead to the animal being put down by authorities.

Vancouver man David Weale woke up to discover a black bear lurking around his tent beside the Capilano River in British Columbia last week.

Weale spent about 15 minutes filming the curious bear as it licked and pawed at the mesh of the tent, before throwing some food out.

He uploaded the video to YouTube on Tuesday, and quickly drew the ire of Reddit users.

"He spent a significant amount of time making the bear comfortable being near humans. The goal is always to minimise the interaction," Redditor van_gold wrote.

"Either remove yourself or use bear spray/loud noises to remove the bear."

"As far as I'm concerned, this guy broke the rules and has essentially killed that bear. It will only be a matter of time now before the CO (Conservation Officer) has to shoot it."

Canadian rangers say to never keep food in tents or around campsites but to instead keep them inside cars so as not to attract bears.

A bear is close to being euthanased by authorities in nearby Garabaldi Park after becoming aggressive to humans thanks to food waste left at a campsite.