His willingness to “play” with one who seemed helpless
Naiphum Promratee, 36, had visited a remote temple in rural Thailand to see a “buffalo bear” living in a small enclosure with a community of monks.
Naiphum saw the powerful 250kg animal crammed into a small feeding area – and decided to taunt it by hanging bowls of rice from above.
But suddenly, the bear named Bing, stood on her hind legs, grabbed his hand and pulled him over a concrete barrier.
He then pinned the 36-year-old to the ground, knocked him out and dragged him into the cage, tearing a chunk out of his ribs with his teeth.
Horrifying footage showed onlookers trying in vain to scare the bear into freeing the hapless man.
His friends hit the bear with poles and doused it with cold water, to no avail.
The enraged animal continued to bite and scratch him for almost a minute before it began to drag him away.
One of Naiphum’s team ran into the enclosure and beat the bear into its cage with a pole, while friends focused on a rescue.
Emergency services arrived shortly after 11am local time and rushed the bloodied man to hospital, where he is now recovering and able to speak.
Beware harsh images
The 8-year-old bear is kept in a cage by the monks along with about 24 wild boars in a small patrol, which allows visitors to feed, as the animals are malnourished and the temple has appealed for donations.
Bing, it turned out, wasn’t among those reportedly malnourished—he weighed more than twice the average American black bear.
Bears, as a rule, do not hunt human creatures. But if they are starved, or threatened, or habituated enough to lose their natural fear of humans – they can.
Two days after the incident, the bear, after being sedated, was taken to a nearby wildlife center to be put on a feeding program.
Beware harsh images
