A bear dies in Pairi Daiza following a fight, an area of ​​the Belgian park closed to visitors

It was a strange afternoon that took place at Pairi Daiza Park in Belgium, Sunday November 24, 2024. A fight broke out between two black bears. Despite the intervention of the teams, one of the two died. Visitors were evacuated from the area “so that the most sensitive do not witness the scene”, explains the management of the animal park.

The weather was nice but the wind was blowing, this Sunday, November 24, 2024 in Belgium.

Why did two male plantigrades engage in a fight to the death? The mystery remains. Both belong to a group that has been living together for 5 years in an area of ​​the Belgian wildlife park.

Visitors were walking through the aisles when the two castrated bears began a fratricidal duel. “It is because such a fight is violent, noisy, bloody that, in order not to offend children and the most sensitive, this area of ​​the park was evacuated”explication Claire Gilissen. “But there was no risk to the public.” specifies the spokesperson for the Belgian animal park.

The keepers tried to separate the two bears. “The process goes crescendo” explains Claire Gilissen, spokesperson for the Park. “We start by calling them, sending food, before considering other actions.” Except that the circumstances complicated the intervention of trainers and veterinarians. “We use water lances”, explique Claire Gilissen, “but with the wind blowing hard and the bears being far away in the enclosure, it was impossible to reach them.”

They did consider darts to put the fighters to sleep. But again, the wind was blowing too strongly for darts. So, the trainers fired blank bullets, without ammunition, to try to distract the fighters and separate them.

On social networks, management explains: “The area was emptied of visitors so that they would not visually witness this violent fight. To try to put an end to it, blank bullets were used by our shooting team. These sonic detonations did not 'have no physical impact, their aim being only to distract the animals' attention.

Management explains:Despite these efforts, the two bears continued their confrontation. One of them unfortunately succumbed to his injuries.”

At the end of the fight, the bear Dack, hit in the skull, had to be euthanized. “The veterinarian felt that he was too seriously injured and that he needed to be spared unnecessary suffering,” explains Claire Gilissen. Dack was 15 years old. He arrived in Pairi Daiza in 2019, when the park inaugurated its zone of the Canadian Far North, The final frontier.

On its website, the park describes the black bear as: “a solitary animal except during breeding periods. It is very agile, capable of standing up and walking a few meters on its hind legs, climbing trees with powerful claws, swimming across a lake, and running at more than 50 km/hour.

Black bears weigh around a hundred kilos and measure around 1.40 meters. The press relations officer specifies: “the territory is vast, well beyond the standards of the parks, it is larger than the imposed standards”.

The surviving bear is nine years old. Claire Gilissen explains: “At first glance, he is not injured. He was placed in his inner territory, alone. The keepers are watching him. They are checking his condition and behavior.”

The caregivers are very affected, she continues: “They are saddened, the animals are a bit like their family. They take care of them, feed them, there is attachment, vocal exchanges.” On their Facebook page, the park specifies: “Conflicts between bears are natural behaviors that we sometimes observe in wildlife. This situation experienced in Pairi Daiza deeply saddens us, because our passionate teams, and first and foremost the keepers, do everything to provide a safe environment. adapted life”.

In the coming days, park management will have to decide whether or not to reintegrate the survivor into the group.