Visitors at the Badaling Wildlife Park are to blame for the death of a woman killed by a tiger. Investigation of the incident pointed to a woman named Zhao as the one who did not follow the park guidelines not to leave their car.
Because Zhao went out of their car at the passenger side to change seats with her husband, Lu, right after she left the car, park rangers blew their horns to warn her to immediately return to the vehicle. But she did not heed the instruction and was about to enter the driver’s side when the tiger pounced on Zhao and dragged her to its lair, reported What's on Weibo.
Seeing what happened, Zhou, the mother, and Lu ran after the tiger to rescue Zhao. Zhou tried to hit the tiger that took her daughter, but a second tiger bit Zhou on the back. A third tiger came and also attacked Zhou. Park rangers ordered Lu to return to his car and leave the scene immediately.
With the help of other car drivers, the park ranger restrained 10 tigers and led them back into cages and the tiger habitat within 14 minutes. After about 15 minutes, they checked Zhou and found she no longer had a pulse. Zhao was still alive, but her face was badly wounded.
The rangers rushed the women to the hospital, and Zhou was officially declared dead, while Zhao was treated. Since the incident on July 23, Zhao has been discharged from the hospital.
Shanghaiist noted that park visitors were reminded several times not to leave their cars at all, plus there are signs all over the place reminding visitors to stay inside their vehicles always. Although the investigation found the park was not at fault, the probe report said the Beijing park need to improve its emergency training and find more innovative ways to remind tourist to obey rules for their safety.
While the victims believe the investigation was biased toward reducing the park’s liability, according to a person close to the victim’s family, the park, nevertheless is negotiating with them for compensation. Chinese netizens were divided on the issue.
Some believe it should be the park which should ask to be paid because it was forced to close and lost income when the attack happened. Other say the only compensation the visitors deserve is to refund their entrance ticket.