Many of us have had childhood fantasies of befriending animals of the wild like we’re living in a fairy tale. However, most of us leave those flights of fancy back in the childhood imaginations.
One man evidently carried these fancies into adulthood and paid for them with his life.
Valentin Bulich, 28, was mauled to death by a bear he was trying to tame. He wanted to teach himself how to become a trainer and instead of learning from experienced professionals, he took the responsibility upon himself.
According to his mother Elena, 52, he’s always dreamed of being a tamer. He had even managed to work successfully with bear cubs before he attempted to do the same with an adult-sized bear, Dailymail reported.
The bear belonged to a Russian circus. On a day off for the performers, Bulich stole the keys to the ferocious animal’s cage.
The lines ahead contain a description of violence.
He was also employed by the same circus, Great Moscow State Circus. He worked as a cage cleaner for the troupe. To fulfil his childhood dream of becoming a bear-tamer, he locked himself in the cage with a bear. The animal was seven-year-old, which is adult age for bears. It’s reported that Bulich was ‘confident’ that he could find a ‘common language’ between him and the animal to control it.
However, the bear didn’t want to learn this common language. He tore off the man’s scalp as he clawed at his body. The pain he suffered through is unimaginable.
The bear who attacked him is named Yasha. He is popular with the circus and its fans, and he is usually safe to be around humans.
Yasha’s trainer, Oleg Alexandrov, controls three bears on stage. He said the bear will be killed as a punishment for the attack, something is usually done when lions or such beasts are assumed to develop a taste for human blood.
Yasha is known to be friendly. He has given “pep talks” to football teams. When a gymnast was injured and returned to the circus in a wheelchair, Yasha even licked his face. The bear was responsible for the gymnast’s accident as he pushed him by mistake.
The bear may have attacked due to sheer fright, unknown to Bulich, he might have been protecting himself.
A mangled body was recovered by one of the circus workers. The police reportedly said he had no chance of surviving, as he died before he could reach the hospital.