The 8-second video was shared on Twitter by former director Tourism, Kashmir, Mehmood Shah.

A shocking video has gone viral on social media showing a brown bear tumbling into a stream from a steep mountain ridge after stones were thrown towards it in Kargil district of Jammu and Kashmir.

The eight-second video -- shared on Twitter by former director Tourism, Kashmir, Mehmood Shah -- shows a brown bear being stoned by people in Drass area of Kargil district in Ladakh region.

The bear had climbed a steep mountain ridge after being chased by the people from the nearby village, but fell into a stream after losing balance as people aimed stones at it.

In the video, people can be heard cheering as the animal tumbles into the stream.

The incident sparked outrage on the social media as several people, including former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Mehbooba Mufti, termed it heartbreaking and inhuman.

"Heartbreaking and inhuman. Why invade their habitat in the first place?" Mehbooba wrote on Twitter while sharing the video clip.

People on social media have demanded action against those behind the incident.

Heartbreaking & inhuman. Why invade their habitat in the first place? https://t.co/gJQvh3QzUp — Mehbooba Mufti (@MehboobaMufti) May 10, 2019

After the incident came to the fore, the authorities have launched an operation to trace the bear and are also trying to identify the people who attacked it.

Senior police officer Baseer-ul-Haq Choudhary has ordered an inquiry and several teams from the wildlife and other departments have been formed to trace the brown bear.

"An FIR has been registered," the police officer said, adding they were also trying to identify the people who threw stones at the bear due to which it slipped into the stream and action would be taken against them.