"It's unclear why the woman entered the bear habitat"

[Penelope]

I live in Manitoba, Canada, and have been to Churchill, Manitoba, twice in my life. That's the town on Hudson Bay where the Polar Bears gather in the fall as they wait for the ice to freeze up so they can travel up into the Arctic. For some reason the ice in the Bay freezes first and the bears know it! The locals have special Tundra Buggys that take tourists out on the tundra to observe the bears.

Polar Bears are on "top of the food chain." That means they fear no other animal, including man. They are probably one of the most dangerous animals on the planet! One time a tourist put their arm out of a window of a Tundra buggy and a bear ripped it off! They are considered marine mammels and are not to be played with.

Of course, some people attach human attributes to animals, and maybe this woman is one of those types of people. IMO she is probably mentally ill. I read in one of those Darwin Awards books about a woman at one of those wildlife parks with bears in it. This woman was observed (by a Park Ranger) outside of her car smearing honey on her child's face. The Ranger asked her what she was doing and she said she wanted to get a picture of a bear "kissing" her child's face. Needless to say, she and her child were immediately taken to safety. And this is supposedly a true story!!!

 

[jblfelines]

I heard on the Today show that she wanted to befriend them. Definitely has mental issues. I think the one bear wanted to play with her, and of course, a bear plays rough. He kept pulling the back of her pants when she would try to get up the wall to the rescuers.

I don't think the bears are going to be punished. They were just being bears. Isn't this the zoo that Knute is in? I think I saw on the report that he wasn't one of the three that were going for the woman when she went into their enclosure.

From what I heard the bears will not be punished. I hope the woman doesn't try to sue the Zoo. Such nutty people out there. Some lawyer will probably say there was no sign saying Don't get in the Enclosure with the Bears. I remember a few years ago a man decided to swim with a killer whale at one of the Theme Parks and they found his body in the whale pool.

Sounds to me like this woman has lots of Mental issues.

 

[wildTrose]

When wild animals such as the tiger is enraged or upset..the darts dont always take effect.....that is why they probably didnt choose to use the dart to knock it out instead of shooting it......
Ive also have heard that sometimes once a wild animal tastes human blood they get a taste for it...

 

[Texana]

I live in Manitoba, Canada, and have been to Churchill, Manitoba, twice in my life. That's the town on Hudson Bay where the Polar Bears gather in the fall as they wait for the ice to freeze up so they can travel up into the Arctic. For some reason the ice in the Bay freezes first and the bears know it! The locals have special Tundra Buggys that take tourists out on the tundra to observe the bears.

Polar Bears are on "top of the food chain." That means they fear no other animal, including man. They are probably one of the most dangerous animals on the planet! One time a tourist put their arm out of a window of a Tundra buggy and a bear ripped it off! They are considered marine mammels and are not to be played with.

Of course, some people attach human attributes to animals, and maybe this woman is one of those types of people. IMO she is probably mentally ill. I read in one of those Darwin Awards books about a woman at one of those wildlife parks with bears in it. This woman was observed (by a Park Ranger) outside of her car smearing honey on her child's face. The Ranger asked her what she was doing and she said she wanted to get a picture of a bear "kissing" her child's face. Needless to say, she and her child were immediately taken to safety. And this is supposedly a true story!!!

Wow. Just, wow. Amazing!

I think that in recent decades as more people have moved more to urban areas, they lose sight of the whole concept of "wild animal." As well, as a teacher, I can say we probably don't emphasize the "This will kill you" aspect very often. Perhaps we need to have "Polar Bear Week" on Discovery Channel as well as Shark Week!

My grandparents were farmers and ranchers and they viewed animals in two very basic ways: Food or nuisance/predators. There was not this sense of "befriending" animals in the wild or animals in general. It was necessary for survival. They had a decent respect for animals because of that.

So many people now only see animals (other than cats and dogs) as endearing little critters. We anthropomorphize (consider them as human) animals and while many people still retain common sense (or a genetic memory for survival) others just seem to to be clueless.

 

[Gypsy Road]

Sheesh...talk about doing something regretful that comes back and bites you in the butt! YEOUCH!

 

[RainbowsAndGumdrops]

Sheesh...talk about doing something regretful that comes back and bites you in the butt! YEOUCH!

You crack me up!!! If only there was an icon of a polar bear biting a butt...

 

[lizzybeth]

You crack me up!!! If only there was an icon of a polar bear biting a butt...

If you watch the video one bear does tug on the back of her pants as she's trying to get out of the enclosure. :crazy: