Tourist Mauled by Brown Bear After Disastrous Attempt at Selfie

Declan Gallagher
·2 min read

A Scottish tourist visiting Romania was mauled by a mama brown bear after she rolled down the window of her car to snap a selfie with the beast and its cubs.

With marked good humor, 72-year-old Moira Gallacher spoke with STV News from her stretcher moments after the near-fatal attack on Monday. She and her traveling companion, Charmian Widdowson, were winding through the Carpathian Mountains when they happened upon a family of bears in the road.

“What happened was the bear came up to the window at my friend’s side, and no problem. It let us take a picture and went away,” Gallacher told STV. “But I didn’t get a proper picture, so we went back and it was at my side.”

Widdowson’s photo shows a brown bear cub leaning into the vehicle, its paw draped over the interior door panel.

Widdowson later gave her account to STV. “We saw these bears—a mummy bear, and a baby—they were gorgeous,” she enthused. “But they weren’t gorgeous. The mummy bear was hungry, and thought my friend was going to be lunch."

“I turned the car around and got off. And they were there, and I said, there’s no curve here, let’s stop and take a picture,” Widdowson continued. “So I went down the window to take a good picture. I thought he wanted to be friends.”

Widdowson believes the bear was motivated to pounce after hearing the two women discussing their upcoming lunch. Gallacher said, “Let’s get something to eat,” to which Widdowson replied, “No, you are not allowed to give food [to a bear]. Absolutely nothing, nothing, nothing."

“And I think he heard it and decided he had to eat my friend instead,” Widdowson quipped.

Gallacher was treated at a local hospital for wounds on her right hand, from which she is expected to recover fully. She'll likely be discharged on Wednesday.

Both women credit an article of Gallacher’s clothing with saving her from a worse fate. "She was wearing a thick Marks & Spencer jacket and the poor bear got more jacket than arm,” Widdowson recalled.

“I was wearing a padded jacket and a top and another top—that’s what saved my arm,” Gallacher marveled. “I’ve been very, very lucky.”

An estimated 6,000 bears call the Carpathian Mountains home. They typically awaken from their hibernation in March or April.