in the blink of an eye, achbr an average day can make it to a struggle to make it the next day to survive. >> all of a sudden i heard terrible, terrible scream. >> a world where humans and animals co-exist, sometimes there's daenger. >> i'll never forget her scream. it was definitely someone who needed help. >> i have never seen anything as frightening as what i saw that day. >> sometimes there is shock. >> she was screaming fan tick cli at the top of her lungs, somebody do something, that's my baby down there. that baby has my baby. >> there was a lot of people

down there. >> a lot of people running. >> at first i didn't want to look. i didn't want to see what i was ability to see. >> you have to see to believe it. but it happens. >> i remember walking away thinking, did that just happen? zblnchts caught on camera, animal tales. welcome to caught on camera, i'm contessa brewer. in this hour we'll take a nas nating look where bear bites woman and a gorilla finds a toddler in the zoo. in the first video a tourist crosses the line and gets a little too close to a giant polar bear. >> oh, my god. >> desperate screams, people

running. it's complete kay yous at the anchorage, alaska zoo. a woman sneaks behind the zoo barrier and is nearly eaten alive. >> get a gun. tranquilize it! >> i'll never forget her scream. it was definitely someone who needed help. >> a beautiful day at the zoo. families and tourists flock to see the animals to get a little closer to the wildlife they might not otherwise get to experience. >> we have about 100, 120 animals, 36 different species. we take in orphaned, rescued animals. >> one of the most popular attractions is a 1,000 pound polar bear named binningie. kevin pickle has known binkie since the day he arrived. >> despite his cuddly name, this

polar bear is a carnivore and he doesn't take kindly to strang s strangers. dr. larry rafer is taking a stroll through the zoo. >> suddenly cries for help pierce the air. >> oh, my god. >> all of a sudden in a distance i heard terrible, terrible screams. >> dr. rafer rushes the camera rolling towards the blood curdling sounds coming from the polar bear cage. >> katherine burton, an australian tourist, decided to get a picture. >> the 29-year-old woman from sydney, australia is trying to get a good photo to share with friends back home. >> katherine climbed over two fentss to get up to the polar bear fence which he could reach through. so once katherine climbed over

that second fence he jumped up and grabbed her. >> binningy, the massive bear with baseball mit sized paws squeezes the woman tightly to the age. >> i ran over to the directions of the screams and happened to have my camera with me. >> i saw katherine being held by the hip by the polar bear. he had her off the ground. >> it was the largest animal i had ever seen in my life. he had katherine's thigh firmly in his grip. >> when i arrived and saw her like that, i just thought, i've got to get her free. >> bystanders watched the bear squeeze his enormous head through the bars. they're confused and horrified.

binky plunges his four-inch-long canines firmly into her thigh. dr. ray ford knows there's not much time left. >> in all my experiences as a physician, i'd never, ever seen anything as frightening as what i saw that day. had the polar bar severed her femoral artery, she would have bled to death in a matter of seconds. >> can somebody call someone? >> somebody's coming. >> kevin springs into action, trying everything he can to free the flailing woman. >> i jumped over the first fence and threw my radio at him. just bounced off his head. then a grabbed a hold of catherine, and it was just like playing tug-of-war. >> get a gun! tranquilize her! >> it's a terrifying struggle between zookeepers and rescuers trying to free catherine from the bear's unyielding grip. >> the bear would pull catherine

towards him, the zookeepers would pull catherine back towards them. >> she must have felt just like a rag doll being tossed around like that. >> they kept hitting him on the head. it did go good. >> the puny branches do nothing to stop binky. >> and she did make a couple pleas to don't let go. just don't let go of me. i would get a little more of her every time. and then catherine's shoe slipped off. and so her foot just slid through the polar bear's mouth and then she was free. >> lay down, lay down. >> at last, catherine is free of binky's death grip. dr. rayford doesn't know if her injuries will be fatal. she's rushed to the hospital. >> i just felt the crunching of my leg. it was so excruciating.

>> i believe it was almost two weeks she was in the hospital. she had some open wounds, a lot of bruising. she also had a broken leg. >> very lucky. i feel very fortunate. >> catherine suffers torn ligaments and a couple of broken bones. but the biggest bruises are to her ego. >> there was no point dwelling over it, it's done, it's gone, i've got to get on with my life and pick up the pieces from where i left off. that means dealing with people saying i've done a stupid thing. >> the next day the zoo returns to normal. but fascinated rubberneckers flock to binky's little part of the world. everyone has an opinion. >> i think it's kind of sad that she didn't stay out of the fences, you know, because we're not supposed to be doing that. it kind of ruins it for everybody else. >> yeah. >> that's what happens if you don't follow the rules. >> it's just a saturday thing to do before we head back home.

it's good for them to know and see and realize how dangerous it is. >> catherine winds up with $60,000 in medical bills, a hefty price to pay for a curiosity that nearly cost her her life. >> i remember walking away thinking, did that just happen? >> coming up -- >> i'm a paramedic. i can't get down there. >> gorillas at the zoo find a toddler in their midst. >> the gorilla has the boy. the gorilla has the boy. you felt like it was your child. you wanted to be able to help him. >> and later, move over cat burglars, you have some competition from a creative canine. >> we usually handcuff him. but we only have one set of handcuffs. >> when "caught on camera animal tales continues." generosity is its own form of power.

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a toddler plunges 24 feet into a gorilla pit. time seems to stand still as the gorillas take notice. >> oh, my god. >> the elephant! >> it's august 16, 1996. a small group of families is enjoying the zoo together in brook field, illinois. >> we had gone to the zoo, the three of us, our families. i was with my wife and my oldest daughter taking some video of some of the monkeys in the trees. >> as usual, the gorillas are a big hit. their massive size, up to six feet and more than 400 pounds and their human laich behavior captivate kids and parents alive. >> we were on our way out of the park and we decided to stop in

and see tropic world. >> look at the monkeys. >> it was very crowded. >> once we got in there, we started to go through the exhibit. everybody is pretty much doing their own thing. >> suddenly, gasps of horror rise among the trees. >> i did hear a scream. >> didn't pay too much attention to it because of the noise level that was already in there. >> chaos surrounds the gorilla exhibit. witnesses crane their necks to see what's happening. bill's heartbeats faster as he rushes to the unfolding scene. >> i automatically started walking that way. i got in front of a zookeeper there who had a walkie talkie up to his ear. he started running. >> there was a lot of people there. people were running. >> the unimaginable has happened, every parent's worst nightmare, a 3-year-old boy, perhaps excited by the awesome creatures leans that little bit

too far and takes a dive into the enclosure. he lies still, passed out on the ground. >> met up with pete and he told me a child had fallen into the gorilla pit. >> the gorilla has got her. >> a gargantuan gorilla is hovering over the boy. >> that's when things started getting hectic. >> one mother can't stand the suspense. >> at first, i didn't want to look. i didn't want to know. i didn't want to see what i was about to see. >> where? >> over down the gorilla cage. >> they're like the gorilla has the boy, the gorilla has the boy. that's when i peered over and saw the gorilla. >> oh, my god. >> helpless, paralyzed with fear, people gather by the rail. >> you felt like it was your child. you wanted to be able help him. you wanted to get him away from the gorillas. >> the other gorillas were circling around, making these weird noises when it happened. >> we heard i call it screeching from the other gorillas, and all i saw was all of them coming

towards the child. >> for all we knew, they were going to try to attack the baby or, you know, use it as a toy. i just started shaking all over. and the mother comes running up to me and she was screaming frantically at the top of her lungs, somebody do something, that's my baby down there. that gorilla has my baby. i told her, my husband is a paramedic. he ran to help. >> the zookeepers are alerted and rush to the scene. armed with hoses, they hope to scare off the gorilla. >> a bunch of the people from the zoo started coming into the exhibit. they started bringing out hoses so that they could hose the gorillas out of the way. the mother, of course, didn't want to take her eyes off the boy. >> we can't do anything, pete. i'm a paramedic, but i can't get down there. >> bill catches the whole thing on camera. what he sees next defies everyone's expectations. >> i bring the camera up and start zooming in so i can get a better look.

>> a profoundly large and menacing female gorilla has a hold on the boy. she carries her own baby on her back. to bill's shock and relief -- >> i see that she's cradling the boy. the boy is face up now. >> we had no idea until we saw the videotape afterwards that bill had taken that the gorilla actually was rocking the child. >> it's as though the mother gorilla is instinctively trying to soothe the little boy. >> the way she was cradling that boy was just unbelievable. just holding on to him. looked like she's waiting for someone to come get him. >> witnesses still fear the worst. just seconds go by, but it feels like an eternity. finally, a miracle. >> then i saw that she had laid the boy down, i could see the lower half not too far from that log, there was a zookeeper with a stream. he sprayed it down and she took off running, left the boy there. >> the mother gorilla places the

boy by the exit, as though she understands what's at stake. moments later, after bill stops filming, the boy's rescued. "binty jua" is swahili for "daughter of sunshine." on this day, binty shines a brilliant light into a potentially dark moment. >> binty saved this little boy's life, brought him to where the paramedics could easily get to him. >> god was definitely with him, and it was something that was quoted to me by the father, several angels were there also. >> the boy spends four days in the hospital and makes a full recovery. >> i can actually say i can look at binty as a human. she treated the child like he was hers. >> i think she honestly is the hero of the whole story.

coming up, a cunning canine robs a store. >> i looked at him. i said drop it. >> and the plot thickens when the pooch returns to the scene of the crime. >> yeah, that's my dog. >> when "quality on camera: animal tales" continues.

a four-footed felon makes off with a bone after the store's manager orders her to drop that loot. the shocking tale is caught on

camera. december 25th, 2008. christmas day. things are quiet at smith's food and drug in murray, utah. the furry thief is a dog with a plan. >> you had to see it to believe it, but it happened. crazy. >> a shady character enters through the front door. not a care in the world. the husky is new in town and no one notices. she gives a casual hello sniff to a nearby shopper. >> just kind of sniffed the customer up and headed down the aisle. i've never seen him shopping here before. brand-new customer. didn't even have a fresh value card. >> what happens next confounds even hard-boiled law enforcement. the fearless flea bag is pulling off the perfect crime. a quick entry, a decision to make. left, baby diapers. right, dog food. the hairy hustler turns right

and heads straight for aisle 16. witnesses say it's as if she had cased the joint. >> the dog food aisle. he knew where he was headed. >> the store is packed to the rafters with presents. but this dog knows what she wants. her prize -- a rawhide dog bone. booty firmly in mouth, the husky heads for the door. but how will she pull off the great escape? one man is the only thing standing between her and the getaway. but the store manager has a bone to pick with the dashing dog. >> i looked at him and said, drop it. i decided i wanted to keep all my fingers so i didn't try to take it from him. he looked at me, i looked at him. he ran for the door and away he went. right out the front door. >> look at that dog go. >> experts say the cuddly crook's sense of smell is 10,000 times greater than the common criminal's. smelled the rawhide bone, grabbed it and walked out of the store. thereby being a shoplifting dog. store employees are baffled.

and tickled by the cunning crook. >> how likely is that for a dog to walk into a store, go down the pet aisle, get a bone and walk out? >> the dog goes on the lam, leaving witnesses to wonder how the brazen bow wow could pull off this bold burglary? he's enjoying the heck out of it. within a week a stunning break in the case. the shoplifting dog is turned in by her own best friend. akira returns to the scene of the crime in a hummer, this time riding in style instead of walking. kyra, come here, baby. >> the 11-year-old siberian husky seems eager to make things right. after seeing their dog on local news, the sterling family suspects akira of being a good dog gone bad. the store manager is relieved, one more criminal is off the streets. >> yeah, there's no question, that looks like the dog. >> yes, that's the dog. >> yes, that's the dog. >> yeah, it's my dog.

>> akira takes a stroll down memory lane, retracing the steps of the crime. she goes straight for the goodies. it seems like raw hide bones are her weakness. an investigation reveals the four-legged master mind journeyed almost six miles to pull off the heist, then home again. a 12-mile round trip for a six-inch bone. >> that's a hungry dog. >> most shoplifters end up in cuffs but akira doesn't fit the criminal profile. we usually handcuff them but we only have one set of handcuffs. >> so instead of hard time, akyra fesses up and makes good. she feels so sorry for her dastardly deeds, she pays not once, but twice. >> you know what they say, it's a dog eat dog world. you'll be happy to hear akira the siberian husky has reformed her ways and is staying out of trouble.

it can be wild out there. nature is filled with unpredictable and amazing creatures, so be careful and remember your camera. if you have a video you would like to send, log on to our website. caughtoncamera.msnbc.com. i'm contessa brewer. that's all for this edition of "caught on camera.

good morning. coming up on msnbc's "your business," what will co-founder linda mcmahon do to help small businesses in 2017? this landscape architect captures the feeling and smell of a vermont christmas in her wreaths and ends up with a booming mail order company, and the twin sisters behind the elf on the shelf craze talk of company culture and being inspired by passion, not profit. that and a lot more coming up next on a year-end edition of "your business. ."