Swimming with Polar Bears? Not a Good Idea.

Posted by Joe Joyce April 12, 2009 at 8:13 pm

News from Germany:

A 32-year old woman who was attacked by a polar bear after she had jumped into the polar bear enclosure at Berlin Zoo was in intensive care on Sunday, where she was being treated for bites and cuts to her arm, back and legs. The woman had climbed over an embankment then jumped into the water of the polar bears’ enclosure during feeding time on Friday. One of the bears immediately spotted her and swam across, then bit the woman several times in the arms and legs before zoo attendants were able to shoo the animal away and pull her from the water. Berlin Zoo biologist Heiner Kloes criticised the “completely irresponsible behavior” of some visitors, saying that the behavior of the woman “endangered the employees and the animals”. “The polar bear behaved correctly,” Kloes said, adding, “It was curious, nibbled a bit, felt and had a look to see what else would happen.”
Zoo workers tossed rescue rings toward the woman to hoist her out and distract polar bears swimming nearby, said Goerg Gebhard, a Berlin police officer. At one point the woman fell back into the water and was grabbed by a bear before she was eventually hoisted to safety.

Apparently, this woman brought flippers, climbed a fence and jumped into the bear’s habitat to have an “encounter” with the warm fuzzy polar bears. Witnesses report the woman looking happily exhilarated before the bear decided to take a “bite out of crime”.
What was she thinking?