Thread: Should they have let the bear eat her?

Polar bear attacks woman at Berlin Zoo - CNN.com

I'll tell you, only to spare the onlookers, possibly children, would I have bothered pulling her out. If she climbed over and jumped in she damn well deserved it. the trauma to the bears having a stranger in their habitat. And I hope that Germany is not like the US, where likely all kinds of groups would be clamoring for the bears destruction.

If not for onlookers I'd have just let her get eaten. call it wish fulfillment.

Red

Hhhmmmm, poor bears in deed.
Somehow I dislike stupid people but having her eaten would be having drastic consequences for the bears.

I think it happened in the Nuremberg Zoo in the early sixties.
The bears there have a little rock island in the basin.
Just enough to munch on a kid. According to my mom thats what they did.
Guess it ended up with a dead bear and certainly it did with a higher fence.

Assuming it had no negative consequences for the bears afterwards, I would be heartily in favor of letting them eat her.

Hell, I would have tossed the bear some steak sauce.

Her getting out with minor injuries is one thing them killing her is another entirely. You can pretty much guarantee any animal that kills a person is getting put down. Be it their fault or not. So for the sake of the animals I'm glad she was rescued but think she should have the book thrown at her. Best bet is she ends up in an institution though.

Wow, a tough heartless audience here.

Maybe she was mentally unbalanced so saving her was the proper thing to do.

Once upon a time there was a little girl called Goldilocks who lived at the edge of a great zoo. She was called Goldilocks because she had very beautiful curly blond hair which gleamed like gold in the sunlight.

But although Goldilocks looked so pretty she could sometimes be very stupid. Every day as Goldilocks went out to play her mother would remind her: 'Now Goldilocks, you may go and play in the meadow but don't go into the zoo or you will get your ass bitten by one of those big mean polar bears.'

One morning Goldilocks began to get tired of playing in the meadow.
'I know,' said Goldilocks to herself, 'I'll go exploring in the zoo.' She looked back at the house to make sure that her mother wasn't watching then ran off accross the meadow and into the zoo.

Goldilocks wandered deeper and deeper into the zoo until she became completely lost. She felt very frightened and was about to cry when she saw a strange little enclosure amongst the pathways. Goldilocks tapped on the door but there was no answer. Then she peeped in through an open window. There was no one at home so Goldilocks climbed down a fence, over a wide hedge full of thorns and got past a concrete wall before swan diving into the murky moat where the polar bears swim*.

What Goldilocks didn't realise was that it was feeding time ** for the three bears. When they attacked her, rescuers threw down some life belts on ropes to pull her out.

Goldilocks started to realise how painful it was being attacked by a polar bear, so she tried to get out. First she tried the smallest lifebelt, but it was too small for her portly frame and it split in half. Then she tried the largest lifebelt, but it was too loose and she slipped out when she foolishly reached out for a pole being used to ward off the bears. Then she tried the middle lifebelt and it held her just right and they lifted her right out.

Police issued Goldilocks with a citation for trespassing, and keepers have no plans to change the zoo's setup. The concrete wall protecting the polar bears' enclosure will not be built up higher than its current three feet (90 centimeters), nor will more guards be posted.

And the three bears lived happily ever after.

* Berlin Zoo: No changes to polar bear enclosure even after woman jumped in -- chicagotribune.com
** Polar bear attacks woman at Berlin Zoo - CNN.com

Originally Posted by Rajagra

Once upon a time there was a little girl called Goldilocks who lived at the edge of a great zoo. She was called Goldilocks because she had very beautiful curly blond hair which gleamed like gold in the sunlight.

But although Goldilocks looked so pretty she could sometimes be very stupid. Every day as Goldilocks went out to play her mother would remind her: 'Now Goldilocks, you may go and play in the meadow but don't go into the zoo or you will get your ass bitten by one of those big mean polar bears.'

One morning Goldilocks began to get tired of playing in the meadow.
'I know,' said Goldilocks to herself, 'I'll go exploring in the zoo.' She looked back at the house to make sure that her mother wasn't watching then ran off accross the meadow and into the zoo.

Goldilocks wandered deeper and deeper into the zoo until she became completely lost. She felt very frightened and was about to cry when she saw a strange little enclosure amongst the pathways. Goldilocks tapped on the door but there was no answer. Then she peeped in through an open window. There was no one at home so Goldilocks climbed down a fence, over a wide hedge full of thorns and got past a concrete wall before swan diving into the murky moat where the polar bears swim*.

What Goldilocks didn't realise was that it was feeding time ** for the three bears. When they attacked her, rescuers threw down some life belts on ropes to pull her out.

Goldilocks started to realise how painful it was being attacked by a polar bear, so she tried to get out. First she tried the smallest lifebelt, but it was too small for her portly frame and it split in half. Then she tried the largest lifebelt, but it was too loose and she slipped out when she foolishly reached out for a pole being used to ward off the bears. Then she tried the middle lifebelt and it held her just right and they lifted her right out.

Police issued Goldilocks with a citation for trespassing, and keepers have no plans to change the zoo's setup. The concrete wall protecting the polar bears' enclosure will not be built up higher than its current three feet (90 centimeters), nor will more guards be posted.

And the three bears lived happily ever after.

* Berlin Zoo: No changes to polar bear enclosure even after woman jumped in -- chicagotribune.com
** Polar bear attacks woman at Berlin Zoo - CNN.com

Goldilocks was blonde... what do you expect?

I of course think that in cases like this, and any other where people shouldn't be and have no reasonable expectation of safety, that there should be no consequences to the animal. yes, the argument is made that once they eat easy human prey, in the wild, they become dangerous. but these bears are probably never getting out, and likely would like a different climate given a choice, so I doubt consumption of one stupid biped would harm them in the long run.

Cold? No. our problem is that we protect EVERYBODY from everything, including themselves. What does it cost to institutionalize somebody like that? what if she reproduces and her stupidity or chemical problem is hereditary.

gets me into a huge thought process about reproduction (see octo-mom) restrictions and other such. It is just natural selection trying to re-assert it herself. besides, she's been cheated out of her darwin award now.

Red

The problem, as I understand it, is that once an animal mauls a human it is more likely to do it again. Meaning the handlers and other staff are put at a greater risk. Not sure where that line is drawn (tastes flesh, kills, etc) but I know I've seen reports on it. So animals fault or not, assuming that is true, the safest route is to put them down.

As to population control... I'm all for it. Prove your stupidity and/or incompetence and you should be sterilized. Then again I'm all for the death penalty and putting debtors/welfarers to work on the side of the road instead of giving them a free ride or wiping the slate clean.

Originally Posted by Big Red

Polar bear attacks woman at Berlin Zoo - CNN.com

I'll tell you, only to spare the onlookers, possibly children, would I have bothered pulling her out. If she climbed over and jumped in she damn well deserved it. the trauma to the bears having a stranger in their habitat. And I hope that Germany is not like the US, where likely all kinds of groups would be clamoring for the bears destruction.

If not for onlookers I'd have just let her get eaten. call it wish fulfillment.

Red

HAH! When I lived in Berlin, a two year old girl was attacked by a German Shepherd on the subway (Yes, they allow dogs on the subway of a major city...). The city tried to enact a muzzle law, and there was a huge protest parade in the middle of a huge street, disrupting traffic for hours, to keep the law from being enacted. Gotta protect the rights of all these animals--living in the middle of a huge urban area surrounded by people!

Yeah, animals in Germany...no worries there.