Woman sues Beijing wild safari for tiger attack
- By Zhang Rui
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E-mail China.org.cn, November 24, 2016
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Video clip shows a woman is dragged off by a tiger after exiting the car when touring the tiger zone in Beijing Badaling Wildlife Park on July 23, 2016. [Photo/ the Beijing Times] |
The woman who was severely injured by a Siberian tiger at a Beijing wildlife park has now filed a civil suit against the park, claiming 1.55 million yuan (US$224,800) in compensation.
On July 23, the young woman stepped out of a car while touring inside the Badaling Wildlife World to talk to the driver, her husband. A tiger then captured her from behind. Her husband and her mother ran out of the car to rescue her, but she and her mother were attacked by more tigers.
In the end, her mother died and she was seriously injured. After monitoring footage, a striking image was put online which went viral. Many condemned the woman with comments like "she asked for it."
The local government organized a team to investigate the incident but found that the park was clear of responsibility since the park had warned visitors of possible danger in advance and asked them to sign the safety accord.
But the woman, surnamed Zhao, and three relatives of her deceased mother filed a lawsuit on Nov. 15 against the park asking for compensation for damages.
Zhao admitted her faults of stepping out of the car, but she argued that the park has more faults, including allegedly not having the government safety evaluation and approval to run the safari; not training the visitors and not having protection or precautionary measures, nor neccessary first-aid equipment.
According to the lawsuit, the family said they have a full length video, which shows that after the tiger attacks, no staff of the park actually came to the rescue. They just stayed in the patrol jeeps and watched on, fearing for their own life. About 20 minutes after the attack, she and her mother were loaded onto an ambulance and rushed to hospital.
Therefore she argued that the park didn't train its staff and didn't take effective care of the injured. "My mother was so brave to save me from the tiger. She has no fault and the park was fully responsible for her death," she said.
The woman also dismissed online speculation as to why she stepped outside of the car. "I didn't quarrel with my husband on that day. I just felt dizzy due to carsickness since my husband is a new driver, so I decided to switch with my husband to drive for myself so I will feel better. The park has a complex and confusing structure so I thought I was in the safe zone and stepped out of the car," she said.
The family said the 1.55-million-yuan compensation they claim is calculated by their lawyers according to relevant laws, including funeral expenses for her mother, her own plastic surgery, nutrition fees, mental damage and more. Zhao said they had previously negotiated with the park regarding the damage, but after the government investigation report came out on Aug. 24, the park felt they had no responsibility and would not talk to them.
Cao Zhijie, who is in charge of the park, responded that the park doesn’t have responsibility according to the report and can only offer a humanitarian fund rather than damage compensation. "As the legal procedure has now been initiated, we will respect the court's verdict, and will implement the court's decision in the future," Cao said.
The local court of Beijing Yanqing District stated on Wednesday that they have accepted the woman's lawuit, while the woman's family also applied to upgrade the jurisdiction from the local court to the Beijing First Intermediate People's Court or the Beijing Municipal Superior People’s Court, in case the Yanqing local court has local protectionism for the park and bias against her family.
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