Survivor of tiger attack in Beijing says wildlife park should bear the brunt of responsibility
Woman claims lack of warnings and slow response in incident that left her severely injured and her mother dead
A woman who left her car and was severely injured in a tiger attack in July, in an incident in which her mother was also attacked and died, said the wildlife park should bear 70 per cent responsibility, Guangzhou Daily reports.
The attacks occurred on July 23 at Badaling Wildlife World, near the Great Wall in Beijing. A 13-second surveillance video shows the woman, surnamed Zhao, exiting the front passenger door of the car and walking to the driver’s door, where she stands talking to the driver, later confirmed to be her husband. A tiger appears from behind her and drags her off.
The driver gives chase and all three disappear off camera, before the man returns to the car where he is joined by another woman from the back seat, and they run in the direction in which the tiger dragged Zhao. The second woman was Zhao’s 57-year-old mother, who was also attacked and died of blood loss. Zhao was taken to a hospital where she was treated for severe injuries.
Her wounds have healed but she would need more plastic surgery, and it’s difficult to estimate the cost, the report said.
Zhao said her family was not aware they had driven into an extremely dangerous area of the wildlife park because “there were no clear warning signs” and “we were not told the animals would be roaming free”.