Black bear attacks grandmother and grandson in car at Woburn Safari Park

A grandmother has spoken of her anger after rangers at Woburn Safari Park failed to respond when a black bear attacked her daughter’s car during a family day out with her grandson.

Tanya Mallaney was left reeling in terror when the ‘six foot’ animal launched itself at the Ford Fiesta at the popular family destination in Bedfordshire. 

Shocking photos captured by the 53-year-old civil servant’s daughter Sophie show the bear snarling as it tries to bite its way into the car, tearing at the wing mirror and wind screen.  

Shocking photos captured by Sophie Mallaney show the bear snarling as it tries to bite its way into the car, tearing at the wing mirror and wind screen. Grandmother Tanya Mallaney was left reeling in terror when the ‘six foot’ animal launched itself at their Ford Fiesta

Speaking to MailOnline, Ms Mallaney said they had a lucky escape because her other daughter Danielle had locked the door minutes before the bear pounced.

She said: ‘We drove around and hadn’t seen many animals yet when suddenly we rounded a corner and saw a bear which jumped straight onto the car.

‘We beeped the horn three times – as per the instructions around the park to call for help during emergencies – but no one responded.

‘It was incredibly frightening as it was 100% trying to get inside. It’s teeth were out, it wasn’t a friendly bear.’ 

Keeping their calm when rangers failed to arrive to fend off the bear, the family of four drove steadily away with the bear still on the bonnet.

Keeping their calm when rangers failed to arrive to fend off the bear, the family of four drove steadily away with the bear still on the bonnet hoping it would run away

Thankfully the bear eventually moved on and Ms Mallaney confronted a member of staff who radioed the duty manager, who was stunned by the pictures and said it was probably because of the heat.

‘The manager said he had never seen anything like this in time time at Woburn before, and was quite shocked himself. 

‘He blamed the heat and offered us a £400 VIP package as an apology, which was sweet but I wasn’t completely satisfied as they had no answer for the missing rangers.’

Ms Mallaney, who said her six-year-old grandson was petrified following the experience and had kept asking if the bear was following them while driving home, has accepted Woburn’s offer – but remains angry at the rangers’ failure to step in.

She said: ‘The rangers were in the vicinity, we saw one nearby, but they didn’t react – the incident lasted at least a few minutes and we followed the emergency protocol.’