A 23-year-old man was arrested after a brief visit to hospital after he picked a fight with an elderly bear in Warsaw zoo, just one day after it reopened following the lifting of coronavirus lockdown restrictions.
In shocking and disturbing footage from the scene, the visibly intoxicated man can be seen jumping into the water in the bear’s enclosure after she lunges at him.
Sabina the bear then hunts the foolish man down at which point he begins to grapple with her and tries to force and keep her head under the water in an attempt to drown her.
Zoo officials have said the bear was “disturbed” and “stressed” following the unprovoked home invasion and attempted murder.
“Sabina, an old bear who was attacked by an adult man, physically came out of this event unscathed, but she is very stressed,” a zoo spokesperson said.
“She used to belong to a circus and is accustomed to the presence of people, but she absolutely did not expect a human attack.”
The spokesperson added that Sabina sat growling nervously in the water until her carers came to comfort her. The zoo is planning on pressing charges against the unnamed attacker.
Unfortunately, this isn’t the first time poor Sabina has been attacked at the zoo: in 2015 a 32-year-old man climbed into her enclosure and punched her in the head after she tried to bite his arm in self-defense. In that instance, the man escaped but was found seeking treatment and was later fined 850 zloty ($200).
The bear’s enclosure is located just off the busy Solidarity Avenue which places Sabina in close contact with reckless daredevils who wish to get a close-up view of the bear, as well as well-meaning but ill-informed members of the public who regularly throw food in for the animal which does damage to her digestive tract.
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