A 22-year-old woman who is 14 weeks pregnant survived a brutal black bear attack in rural Gansu Province on September 7 after remaining completely still to “play dead,” local media reported.
The woman, identified only as Ms. Zhang, was herding livestock when a black bear suddenly lunged at her, biting her head and driving its teeth into her right eye and left ear. Bleeding heavily, she dropped to the ground, stiffened her body and stopped breathing to feign death. After a short while the bear lost interest and left, allowing her to escape with her life.
Because the area was extremely remote, it took about 40 hours to reach a hospital. Doctors found her skull fractured, her right eyeball ruptured and her left ear severely injured. After a five-hour emergency operation involving multiple specialists, both the mother and her unborn child were declared out of danger.
Wildlife experts said black bears usually attack defensively—when startled or protecting cubs—so lying still and silent can sometimes convince them the threat is gone. However, they cautioned that “playing dead” is not a universal solution. If a bear shows predatory behavior, such as stalking or entering a campsite at night, victims should fight back using sticks, stones or bear spray aimed at the animal’s face to buy time to escape.
The experts stressed prevention is best: make noise when walking through bear country, travel in groups rather than alone and store food and trash securely to avoid attracting bears.
