The Tibetan blue bear wanders in the hotel Photo: Screenshot from media reports

An adult Tibetan blue bear, ursus arctos pruinosus, broke into a hotel room in Nagqu, Southwest China's Xizang Autonomous Region, in the early hours of the morning on July 4. After a brief two-second stare-down with the guest, the bear left on its own, and no one was injured.

The guest, surnamed Liang, is an experienced local tour guide in Xizang. The incident occurred during one of his recent group tours. 

The bear's appearance at the hotel was not entirely unexpected. At around 2 am that night, while driving through Biru county in Nagqu, Liang spotted group of approximately eight Tibetan blue bears twice, with one sighting of a mother bear wandering the streets with her cubs, domestic media outlet The Paper reported.

Given his work experience, Liang was well aware that local Tibetan blue bears often enter human settlements to forage for food at midnight. Before checking in, he informed the presence of the bears with the hotel reception staff. He then returned to his room, locked the door from the inside and went to sleep. 

At around 5:28 am, Liang was abruptly awakened by a loud crash, and immediately saw a large bear's head poking through the door, The Paper reported. An adult male Tibetan blue bear weighs about 250 kilograms, while females range from 100 to 200 kilograms. When standing on their hind legs, some can reach up to 2.5 meters tall and possess immense strength, Liang recalled, adding that the door had been locked, but the bear managed to break it down.

Faced with the sudden appearance of the wild animal, he remained calm and did not panic or scream. After maintaining eye contact with the bear for about two seconds, it turned around and left the room, according to the report.

Once he confirmed the bear had left, Liang quickly got up two minutes later out of concern for the safety of other tourists, joined hotel security staff in searching for the bear but found no trace of it.

A hotel staff member said that the main entrance had been left open because guests were coming and going at the time of the incident, allowing the bear to wander into the hotel. She also explained that Tibetan brown bears mostly go out to forage at night, which was the main reason for its appearance at the hotel.

Local police officers also responded to the hotel on the night of the incident. A police officer said there are about a dozen Tibetan brown bears active in the surrounding area, adding that "They are usually not afraid of humans and do not take the initiative to attack people. Incidents of them entering hotels are extremely rare." 

Given that Tibetan brown bears weigh several hundred kilograms, even properly closed hotel doors cannot keep them out. Liang did not seek compensation from the hotel and led his group to leave the next day to continue their trip.

The hotel has since upgraded its security measures, adding more night-shift staff and strictly controlling access through the main entrance during nighttime hours, The Paper reported.


Global Times