A terrified three-year-old girl had her arm bitten off by a bear when she put it into the beast’s enclosure in a city zoo.
The girl had been visiting the zoo in Sulaymaniyah, Kurdistan Region, northern Iraq with her family, local media reported on 18th October.
She was rushed to a hospital in Sulaymaniyah, where, at the time of reporting, she was waiting to undergo surgery, said local media.
Shocking hospital images of the girl – whose name has not been released – show her on a trolley with what remains of her arm heavily bandaged.
Huge bloodstains can be seen on the front of her white T-shirt.
Local media reports said officials ordered the zoo to be temporarily closed while an investigation takes place and safety procedures are reviewed and tightened.
On social media, Iraqi netizens were reportedly divided over who should be blamed.
Some reportedly accused the girl’s parents of negligence for allowing her to put her arm through the fence.
Others, however, said the blame lay with the zoo’s management for its apparently inadequate safety measures.
The investigation is ongoing.
