Woman famous for kissing bears mauled outside enclosure
A female zookeeper famed for kissing brown bears has lost a leg after a brutal attack by a caged predator in Russia.
The bear clawed Vera Blishch with its paw then sank its teeth into her leg as she instructed a new employee at the zoo in Ussuriysk.
The experienced keeper later had her lower leg amputated after the bear’s savaging, according to reports in eastern Russia.
The victim, who is regularly pictured kissing bears at her zoo, had been instructing a new employee when she was violently attacked.
She had earlier said getting up close and personal with a bear was “very dangerous”.
“A bear is the most dangerous predator on earth,” she reportedly said.
The keeper is well known for a campaign to save animals hit by severe flooding in the Russian Far East in 2015.
She stood neck-deep in flood water to save caged animals.
It was not immediately clear if the predator that attacked her was one she had saved four years ago.
“A zoo employee was instructing a new member of staff and came close to the cage,” said paramedic Alexander Fedeykin.
“The bear struck her with its paw, leading to an open fracture and her skin torn off.”
Doctors were later forced to amputate her leg, The Siberian Times reported.
The keeper demonstrated how she kissed a bear in 2015 when the municipal zoo opened in Ussuriysk – even though she said it was "very dangerous".
“Bears are trained almost nowhere except for Russia,” she said.
“Even by just kissing the bear now I might lose my head within a split second.
“To work with a bear, you must have a special feeling.
“We say it’s a feeling sent by God.
“You must feel a bear.”
The accident was half an hour before the zoo opened.
– Australscope
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