Bears bare their teeth at drunk Ukrainian manJuly 13 2005 at 03:47PM
Kiev - A drunken Ukrainian man who broke into a zoo enclosure was seriously injured when two black bears housed in the cage attacked him as he tried to make them perform circus tricks, according to a newspaper report.
The incident took place at the municipal zoo in the central provincial capital, Cherkassy.
The man, described in the report as "Konstantin, aged 22", scaled an iron fence, a three-metre rock wall, and a water-filled moat to reach the bears.
According to eyewitness reports, Konstantin hit the male bear with a steel bar after it ignored his orders to stand on its hind legs, speak, and to perform circus-style tricks.
The bear retaliated by knocking Konstantin to the ground and mauling him. A female bear in the enclosure, which up to that point had ignored the proceedings, joined in the attack.
The animals stopped their assault once the man became motionless. A bystander was able to drag Konstantin out of the enclosure to safety. He is reportedly in a serious but stable condition in a Cherkassy hospital. - Sapa-dpa