11 Most Bizarre Zoo Accidents

9. Woman Jumps Into Polar Bear Enclosure To "Play" With Animals And Has Backside Bitten (Berlin, 2009)

If there's one thing everyone has learned about polar bears from watching Fortitude it's that they are deadly, vicious animals - and the world's largest carnivores are certainly not playful. Yet, in April 2009, a woman known as Mandy K scaled the safety walls of the polar-bear enclosure at Berlin Zoo in Germany, before jumping into the water and swimming across to "play" with the four animals. Unsurprisingly, the polar bears naturally assumed that this woman was just a new addition to the dinner menu - so one of them submerged itself in the water and repeatedly bit her back and rear end before she was saved by zookeepers who threw her safety ropes and pushed the animal away. Polar bears may be depicted as soft and cuddly creatures in popular culture - but be warned, do NOT scale an enclosure to get up close and personal to these fearsome beats...