Tracy Weiler Feeds Bear, Loses Fingers

Is this the way for a grandmother to impress her 3-year-old granddaughter?

Take the little girl to the Lincoln Park Zoo in Manitowoc.

Be under the influence of alcohol.

Ignore warning signs and violate zoo rules.

Leave the designated viewing area, reach past a lower fence, and feed Bugles to a bear.

Have the granddaughter watch as the bear bites off her fingers.

Hopefully, Tracy Weiler's granddaughter eventually will forget what happened the day her grandmother took her to the zoo.

From WBAY:

A woman lost several fingers when she and her boyfriend were bitten by a bear Friday morning at the Lincoln Park Zoo in Manitowoc.

Police say both adults admitted they'd been drinking in the park.

Police say 47-year-old Tracy Weiler wanted to impress her three-year-old granddaughter.

She started feeding the bear Bugles snack chips from a plastic bag when the animal clamped down on her hand.

Weiler's boyfriend, 51-year-old Larry Bosworth, then jumped the observation deck to try to help.

"He tried opening the jaws of the bear and she eventually did get released from the bear. She's missing some fingers. He also got bit," Officer Larry Perronne, Manitowoc Police Department, said.

Both adults were transported to the hospital.

Police say the woman lost two full fingers and severed several others.

Weiler went past the designated viewing areas, ignored the safety signs, and went up to the fence.

"There's a protective lower fence. Because she's taller, she had to actually physically reach in to try to feed those bears, and that's more than what most people would do," Perronne said.

The three-year-old was safe the entire time, police say.

Police are investigating whether any laws were broken.

"On the fenced in area there are actual signs posted saying keep back, don't feed them, stay away, and they violated the rules of the park, and she was in an area where she should have never been," Perronne said.

Video:

Bear Bites Woman at Zoo

Police: Woman Ignored Signs Not to Feed Bear

Police say alcohol was factor.

I think stupidity was also factor.