Friendly Walrus Drowns Trainer and Tourist

A 3,300-pound walrus at Xixiakou Wildlife Park in Shandong Province in China accidently drowned two people.

Walruses are friendly and lazy mammals, and have been a part of many interesting tales on animal saving campaigns. However, not all Walrus stories have a happy ending, and this was very apparent from what happened in Xixiakou Wildlife Park in Shandong Province in China.

The people who fell victim to this accident were the long-time trainer of the animal and a male visitor from Liaoning. Their death was the cause of the walrus hugging them tightly and drowning them.

Walruses are slow on land, and may appear lazy. In water, they are agile and they are known to be expert swimmers.

The man from Liaoning fell into the pool after losing his footing. The trainer, in accordance with his job, jumped inside to save the man. However, the walrus hugged both of them tightly, causng them to drown.

According to the Daily Mail, there was no clear evidence of the walrus attacking the two. It seemed as if the walrus, after seeing its trainer, tried to hug him and play with him. The people tried to save the lives of the trainer and the tourist by shooing the animal away with a bamboo stick. By the time they were brought to the surface of the water, both were dead from drowning. The possible reason could be the heavy weight of the walrus that ultimately dragged them down into the water.

The name of the trainer was Duan and his career as an animal caretaker and trainer expanded for over ten years.

According to New York Post, a video of this incident was uploaded on Weibo, a popular social media site in China, which is similar to Twitter. The incident raised many questions about the safety standards in the park.

However, the park and the walrus exhibit remains open to the tourists.