A 3 months old black bear cub was torn to pieces and eaten by a dozen of hungry tigers in a zoo in a wildlife park in China.
A black bear cub was torn to pieces when it escaped its zoo enclosure and headed straight into the path of a group of tigers. The tigers swiftly surrounded the young bear and mauled the animal to death despite rescue attempts by staff at the wildlife park in Shanghai, China.
Video footage of the entire incident was captured by zoo visitors on August 10, reported People's Daily Online. Footage of the incident showed the hungry tigers slowly closing in on the bear.
Sensing danger, the bear instinctively stood up on its hind legs to attack the tiger immediately in front of it. However, another tiger emerged from behind and leapt onto its back, knocking the bear onto its back.
Another two tigers soon joined in the attack and the bear was seen struggling on the ground. As the beasts fought, zoo visitors, including children, were heard screaming and shouting in the background.
An armoured vehicle belonging to the zoo was seen charging into the area but the tigers simply dragged the bear with them and raced off. The bear had already stopped moving by this point and the tigers had started eating the bear.
An unnamed visitor captured the video on her phone from what appeared to be the inside of a vehicle. It has since been shared online and has gone viral on Chinese social media.
In an official statement released by Shanghai Wildlife Park, staff revealed that the black bear had slipped through the gates dividing the bear and tiger enclosures at the zoo. When staff had spotted the bear and attempted a rescue, it was already too late.
The young animal was approximately three years old and had only recently been moved to the zoo. It is thought the bear entered the tiger enclosure with a tourist vehicle when it reached a camera blind spot.