A man that escaped serious injury from a black bear mauling at Badaling Wildlife World says he is unsatisfied with the “critical tone” the park has taken towards him for breaking its rules.
A man named Chen had his left shoulder bitten by a black bear last Friday when he and his friend were driving through the free roaming section of Badaling Wildlife World’s carnivorous animals area.
Chen said he knew park rules forbade visitors from rolling down their car windows, but said he didn’t see anything wrong when he saw other drivers opening their windows to feed the black bears.
Upon opening the window “just a crack,” Chen said he was surprised to see a black bear rise on its rear legs and approach his car window, a moment that was photographed by Chen’s friend in the passenger seat.
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Chen said his first instinct when the bear attacked him was to push the button to close the vehicle’s automatic windows. Unfortunately for Chen, the car is equipped with sensors that don’t allow the window to be closed when obstructed, thereby letting the attack go unimpeded. Finally, at some point, Chen stepped on the car accelerator and sped away, only to be chased by the bear.
Chen managed to evade the bear after park animal wranglers scared it away.
Despite having broken park rules, Chen said he is unsatisfied with the park’s response, which was to blame him instead of offering help. From the moment he was first approached to his later dealings with customer service representatives, Chen complained that the staff at Badaling Wildlife World has taken a “critical tone” with him.
“I admit I was wrong to open the window, but when I pleaded for help from the park’s staff in all my pain
and terror, they just told me to go to the hospital, a response that chilled my heart,” said Chen.
Badaling Wildlife World has experienced a number of incidents with rule-disobeying visitors that foretold of last week’s mauling.
In an incident reported last month that did not involve injury, a black bear was seen poking its head inside the open driver-side window of a black SUV (shown above). Back in February, black bears were seen trying to extend their paws inside the open rear windows of a car (shown below).
Most famously, a woman was mauled to death by tigers at Badaling Wildlife World last July in an incident where the victim’s daughter was seen exiting the vehicle inside the dangerous animal area. The survivor of the animal attack is suing the park for USD 2 million in compensation, saying that she wasn’t properly warned of the park’s dangers.
Following rules is always a good idea, especially when black bears at Badaling Wildlife World will instinctually stand on their hind legs to peer through car windows:
After the attack, Chen went to several hospitals to receive a rabies vaccine and a tetanus injection, and is recovering from his injuries at home.
Ever since last year’s tiger attack, Beijing Badaling Wildlife World has added more warning signs that warn visitors against opening car windows.
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