Boy of 11 is mauled to death by two bears

A SCHOOLBOY was killed by zoo bears after the animals dragged him into their cage.

The boy named only as Nikita was visiting a small zoo at a guest house with two female friends, Russia media said.

His great-uncle Vladimir Mikhailov told Sochi24 TV: “I think that he wanted to show off in front of the girls... there is a double cage and people throw food into the space between.

“He went into this space and the bears got him.”

The outer cage door had reportedly been left unlocked.

Reports from the Black Sea resort of Sochi, south-west Russia, said the bears had dug under the inner cage and dragged Nikita through.

A witness said he was

“provoking the bears” by slapping their paws.

He added: “They were tossing him around like a ball. He was all broken.”

Staff at the guest house shot dead both brown bears so the boy’s body could be retrieved. His great-aunt Evgenia Mikhailova, 57, said: “It is so scary what has happened. And what a boy he was.”

Tamara Dolotkazina, a psychologist who had worked at Nikita’s school, said: “He was a very good, intelligent boy.

“I am just shocked by some people saying that the deceased is to blame... not knowing all the details. He was a very smart, nice boy. It is a terrible tragedy.”

The bears had reportedly been at the guest house since being found as orphaned cubs.

Prosecutors opened an investigation into the guest house for causing death by negligence.

Sochi’s mayor has banned all such mini-zoos in the resort.

VICTIM Nikita, killed aged 11 FATAL ATTACK Bears that were kept at guest house