Bear bites boy's arm off after he tries to feed it in Zoo in China

Standing in shock as medics work to stem the bleeding, these shocking pictures show the moments after a boy had his arm ripped off by a bear he had tried to pat.

The images show paramedics applying bandages to nine-year-old Zhang Chien's shoulder after his arm was torn off.

His severed limb can still be seen laying on the floor in the bear's enclosure, just minutes after the attack.

The nine-year-old stands in complete shock with bone protruding from where his arm had previously been as blood streams down his shirt.

For a brief moment he stands completely alone, not even crying, as tourists stare at the mauled boy, waiting for medical staff to arrive.

The grim pictures of the Chinese boy and the shattered remains of his arm were widely shared online after the horrifying incident.

Zhang was at Hebin Park Zoo, in Pingdingshan city in central China's Henan province, with his grandfather as a treat.

When his grandfather went to buy sweets, the child clambered over a safety rail to get nearer to the animal and reached in to stroke it.

At this point the bear put his head through the bars and grabbed the boy by his arm.

The child screamed as the bear grappled with his arm for 10 minutes before tearing it free, witnesses said.

People were seen trying to beat off the bear but their attempts were in vain.

Zoo staff could do nothing as the bear mauled the boy, and took a further 20 minutes to retrieve his severed right arm.

The boy's parents have slammed the zoo, saying staff should have been supervising the bear.

His mother, Ku, said she could not believe it when she arrived at Pingdingshan Number 152 Hospital to be told that surgeons would have to amputate what was left of her son's arm.

She said: 'I don't know how we will ever get over this. Our entire family has been ruined because of this zoo.

'They should have made it safer and they should have always had staff on duty to supervise the animals.'

The zoo has not commented. 

Bear attacks are rare although according to the Journal of Emergency Medicine, there were 162 bear-inflicted injuries in the USA between 1900 and 1985, International Business Times reports.

Jeffrey Tittel, director of environmental organisation New Jersey Sierra Club, claims that bears are usually docile and afraid of people.

Attacks often relate to people having food, as bears that have been fed by humans see people as a source of food and can become aggressive.

Source: AP, IBTimes , DailyMail

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