Bern official defends bear park security after mauling

The weekend mauling by a European brown bear of a Swiss man who climbed into an enclosure at Bern’s recently opened bear park is raising questions about the safety of the facility for visitors.

Visitors watched in horror on Saturday afternoon as a 25-year-old mentally-handicapped Swiss man climbed up a glass barricade and perched on the top of a four-metre wall before jumping into the enclosure.

According to witnesses, the man’s actions appeared to be deliberate.  He went up to the bear and allegedly looked up at the on-looking spectators and smiled before Finn, a four-year-old male bear attacked him.

Minutes later a policeman shot the bear in the chest and it retreated to its den.

The head of Bern’s tourist centre defended the safety of the 6,000-square-metre park, near the old town bordering the Aare River, which was opened last month at a cost of 24 million francs.

The safety of members of the public visiting the enclosure is guaranteed “providing they respect the rules” Michael Keller told Swisster.

It is not possible to fall into the bear enclosure, but anyone who is determined to enter the area can, Keller said.

“As is the case in every zoo, if you want to get into a cave you always can, but it requires a special effort to do so,” he said.

The victim was seriously injured, sustaining injuries to his leg, hand and head. But he was not in critical condition.

However, the man was reportedly not in a fit state on Monday to talk to investigators about the incident. It is still not known why he decided to enter the enclosure.

Finn, one of just two bears at the park, was wounded in the chest and is still in critical condition. Bernd Schildger, the park’s director told a press conference on Sunday that shooting the animal with a bullet was the right course of action.

Park officials are armed with tranquilizer guns, but it takes four to 10 minutes for the darts to immobilize a bear - too long to neutralise the animal as it attacked the man.

On Monday Schildger said park officials would know on Tuesday whether the animal would survive.

The only other bear in the enclosure, a female named Bjork, was in a different part of the park at the time of the attack.

The facility is designed to hold up to eight of the animals. Park managers had hoped the couple would mate. Recently the creatures were separated after the Bjork showed signs that it wanted to be on her own, which Finn did not respect.

“The female was started to withdraw in the cave and was building her own nest, and this is a sign that she could be expecting young,” said Keller.

In the last 150 years there have been four deaths in Bern’s historic bear pits, which were replaced by the current larger park, inaugurated in late October. Keller said the fatalities involved members of the public jumping rather than falling into the enclosure.

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