Erika Janka
She played dead: biathlete narrowly escapes bear attack
Biathlete Erika Jänkä at a World Cup race
© Lehtikuva / Imago Images
During a training run, Finnish biathlete Erika Jänkä encountered an aggressive bear. She reacted exactly right – and got away with the shock.
Erika Jänkä just wanted to do an ordinary training run in the forest. The biathlete is preparing for the coming season in winter. But the unit could have ended fatally for her.
The 27-year-old made the acquaintance of a bear on her run. “I was running with headphones when suddenly I saw a bear ten meters away from me in the forest on the right,” she told the Finnish newspaper “Kuhmolainen”. The first bear didn’t pay any more attention to her, but then a second animal came along – and it started to attack. Jänkä reacted exactly right: she lay flat on the ground and pretended to be dead.
Biathlete Erika Jänkä: “I thought this was the end”
“I felt it on my ankles and my feet,” she described the situation. “I thought that was the end” The bear sniffed her at length, but then let go of the athlete. Her instinctive act of playing dead probably saved Jänkä’s life. Experts recommend lying on the ground and putting your hands behind your neck during a bear attack. “Play dead and don’t fight back. Wait until the bear is far enough away again,” advises the WWF on its website.
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Erika Jänkä, a participant in the Olympic Games last year, has now recovered from the shock. “The encounter in nature will remain in my memory for a long time. Experiencing the fear of certain death is something you cannot prepare for,” she wrote on Instagram. “I’m a bit speechless but grateful for the things I’ve learned about encountering animals throughout my life.” After barely surviving the encounter with the bear, she realized: “I am grateful for life.”
Sources: “cow molaine” / Erika Jänkä on Instagram / WWF
Watch the video: The American David Oppenheimer probably didn’t expect this guest: At the end of the day, as he was relaxing comfortably on a lounger in front of his front door, a black bear suddenly stopped by. Both are deeply shocked by the sight of the other.