Greg B: "Sorry to be non-PC, but as a native Californian who now lives in the East, where the bear population is growing and becoming an increasing menace in the hills, I might have named the bugger 'Darwin' and helped him on his way to the bottom of the gorge."

Whatever your feelings about bears, it's hardly appropriate to tag this bear -- who is a "she," BTW -- "Darwin," implying that her plight was due to stupidity.   What is a bear -- or a person, for that matter -- supposed to do when suddenly faced with two oncoming cars on a fairly narrow bridge?    A human climber might well be expected to keep in mind how they had got up onto such a high bridge and, even in the panic of the moment, remember not to jump all the way over the edge.   I wouldn't expect that comibination of memory plus presence-of-mind from even the smartest of bears.   

G