The incident happened on Monday in the Woburn Safari Park in Bedfordshire. A family was enjoying driving through the park and viewing the animals when their car was attacked, terrifying the family. Sophie Mallaney, 22, of Leighton Buzzard said a six-foot-tall black bear had climbed on their bonnet and had begun chewing at the vehicle.

The family beeped their horn, but no one came to their rescue. In response to the black bear incident, a park spokesman said there were no horns heard and they went on to say it is a safari park and not a “petting zoo.” They said they would have responded if they had heard the car’s horn.

Day out at the Woburn Safari Park ruined

Mallaney told the BBC that they were driving around the safari park when the black bear approached their vehicle, climbed on the bonnet and began biting the area around the windscreen. She said they immediately beeped their horn, but no one came to their aid.

According to a report by the Telegraph, Mallaney was visiting the Woburn Safari Park with her mother, her sister and her six-year-old nephew. According to Mallaney, their car suffered some “minor damage” in the encounter with the black bear and they will be paying for the necessary repairs.

Mallaney said the family was very unhappy that none of the safari park’s staff responded to their horn, adding that they had been told on arrival at the park to hoot their horn if they were in any danger and they were terrified during the incident.

The Telegraph quotes her as saying they had felt, “very, very vulnerable.”

She said that when the bear climbed on their bonnet, it looked right at her and started to chew on the windscreen wash attachments on the car. She said she thought they would be fine and the bear would climb off. However, it then came around the side of the vehicle and placed its paws on the car’s wing mirror.

Mallaney said at that stage, the black bear roared, terrifying the family and she honestly believed the bear was going to eat her and that she was about to die. She believes that if they hadn’t locked the vehicle, the bear would have got in. The black bear did eventually leave their car, approaching another vehicle in the safari park.

Park says no horn was heard

According to a spokesman for the Woburn Safari Park, the deputy head of their carnivore section was patrolling the park at the time of the incident but said that no horn was heard. The spokesman said their employee would have attended if he had heard anything.

The spokesman continued by apologizing that the bear has worried the family and said they would be investigating the incident. He added that animals do come close to cars during the “Road Safari experiences,” and said do they have a strict safety policy in place, which visitors must follow.

Woburn Safari Park is home to 10 bears, including six females and four males, who live outside in the park all year around. The park offered Mallaney’s family a free VIP meet and greet at the safari park, but she said it is unlikely they will return to the Woburn Safari Park at any time in the near future.
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