A man was rescued by zookeepers after police say he jumped into a polar bear pit at the Copenhagen Zoo.
The Associated Press reported that the incident occurred on Wednesday around 12 p.m. when a man jumped into the enclosure where many guests, including schoolchildren, were present. The man's actions forced Danish zoo staffers to fire rubber bullets at the animal in order to save him.
"He went up to the bear and it examined him by sniffing him and shoving him and he sustained some superficial injuries," zoo spokesman Jacob Munkholm told AFP. "It didn't take more than a minute and a half from the alarm going off when he entered the facility until our guards ... shot rubber bullets at the bear and it moved away from him.”
Police have not released the name of the man but said he is in his twenties. Although a motive is not yet known investigators did, however, reveal that they believe he is “mentally unstable" and he was taken to a hospital to be evaluated.