This is the moment a bear knuckle fight kicks off when a young bruin is caught trying to steal a tiger cub’s lunch.

Cub Furious At Being Caught Stealing Young Tiger's Lunch pic.twitter.com/1b95BzgwZ8

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The furious standoff was caught on camera by keepers at what appears to be a wildlife shelter in Henan Province, central China.

As the tiger cub tucks into a bowl of meat, the young bear sneaks a few mouthfuls before a female keeper spots it and pulls it away.

But as soon as she grabs it by the scruff of the neck, the meat-hungry bear – a young sun bear – starts screaming with all its might in a full-on temper tantrum.

And almost as soon as she has moved it away, the bear cub runs back for a second go and fixes its keeper with a furious stare before slipping past her.

This time it is so eager to get a snack it nips the tiger’s ear instead.

The keeper pulls the bear away again and the tiger can finally finish its meal in peace.

The clip – shared later on Douyin, China’s version of TikTok – received more than 50,000 likes and nearly 6,000 comments.

Many poked fun at the bear’s temper tantrum.

Douyin user ‘sad chaplin’ said in a comment: “It was only not allowed to eat someone else’s food, but it sounds like it is being slaughtered.”

Another user titled ‘Feifei’ said: “This little thing is pretty fierce.”

And user ‘golden cat’ wrote: “Look at the way it looked up at you, eyes full of knives.”

The sun bear (Helarctos malayanus) is a species native to the tropical forests of southeast Asia that gets its name from a distinct cream-coloured chest patch.

Sun bears primarily have an omnivorous diet, which includes fruits, insects, small vertebrates, honey, bird eggs, termites, and even occasional vegetation such as young leaves and bark.