In astonishing footage, the lumbering animal is seen nonchalantly saving a crow – who was found splashing and drowning in a small pond within the bear's enclosure at Budapest Zoo.

Aleksander Medves, who uploaded the amazing video to YouTube, first saw the bear attempt to use its large paws to rescue the frail bird from the water, before deciding to carefully lift it out with its fierce jaw.

Stunned by the improbable rescue, the crow then spends a while lying on the ground gaping at its unlikely saviour.

Meanwhile, its hero slopes away to eat an apple lying elsewhere in the enclosure. 

However, eagle-eyed internet commenters have pointed out the bear may not be quite as selfless – and vegetarian – as first thought.

"Does anyone else notice the skinned and half-eaten corpse of another crow near the start?," wrote Richard Schreck.

Another user, Hjalmar Nyman, added: "As a man of science I am annoyed, nay, enraged, by the anthropomorphistic beliefs expressed in this comment section.

"As much as we'd all like life to be a Disney movie, animals don't have feelings, and the bear probably didn't know what it was doing.

"I suspect it was some kind of salmon-fishing instinct. Let me know if you have any questions."

It seems the debate over the Budapest bear's moral intentions will rumble on.