There's few things in nature more terrifying than a polar bear. Don't let those nostalgic Coca-Cola ads fool you. These creatures are deadly. You wouldn't want to come across one in the wild, much less have one just feet from you. It's pants-crapping terror.
Well, that's exactly what happened to one photographer. In a Daily Mail article, photographer Gordon Buchanan said the creature tried to eat him alive after he encountered a polar bear in the Arctic. He writes, "Its nose looked like a fist-sized lump of coal. Its eyes seemed to be made from jet-black marble and they were looking straight at me. The bear was female. She was enormous. She was hungry. And she was sniffing in my direction."
The photographer quickly realized that the creature wasn't stalking a seal. Instead, it had his scent and was trying to find him. Without help, the photographer weighed his options.
He writes, "My heart started pounding, so loudly that my radio microphone actually picked up each individual thump. And then, quite suddenly, the bear launched an attack."
Polar Bear Attacks Photographer
Although he had worked as a photographer for more than three decades, the polar bear still stands as one of the scariest experiences. And this comes after being charged by tiger, black bears, and elephants. He was working on a three-part BBC series called The Polar Bear Family And Me. That's when he got a bit too close to one in the Arctic Circle.
The only thing separating him and the animal was something called the Ice Cube. It was a box made of Perspex that was meant to act as a fail-safe protection against being attacked. He meant to capture the animal at a feeding hole for seal. But it immediately locked onto the Ice Cub with Gordon in it.
He writes, "It would have all been over very quickly, had it not been for the cube. First, the bear took her time sniffing around a small gap in the door, then suddenly she crunched her two hefty paws directly on to it. The cube lurched and the attack began."
He immediately checked to make sure the door was locked. The bear steamed up the plastic with its breath. It began to rattle the cage back and forth.
He writes, "Exploring the roof panel, she managed to insert the tips of her claws into a gap between the fittings. She was prying for any weakness that would allow her to peel the Ice Cube open, as if it were nothing more than a tin of Scottish kippers. Being this close, you get an appreciation for what this animal is. She's one of the most powerful animals on the planet."
Survival
To the photographer's horror, the plastic began to flex on the Ice Cube.
"As the assault rumbled on, I verbalised my biggest fear. 'Her best bet. . .,' I took a sharp intake of breath, 'would be for her to get her full weight on top of it. Just like she would when she's breaking into seal lairs. Talk about tempting fate. As soon as I said that, the bear clambered on top of the cube.This was it then. A few more almighty blows and - as I admitted out loud - she was actually going to break through," he writes.
But fortunately, the polar bear ran out of energy. She gave up trying to get into the cage.
He said, "The truth is that I was utterly terrified - yet through the fog of fear, I was also aware of what an extraordinary experience this was to capture on film."
