We've all heard of animal instinct, but surely there's no such thing as a bear-voyant?

Mum-of-two Azra Noonari thinks it might well be possible after a strange encounter with one of Woburn Safari Park's most fearsome inhabitants.

The 39-year-old web designer and journalist was driving through the park with her six-year-old daughter Aena and son Ahsen, two, when an American black bear approached the car in front of theirs.

Azra and her children were transfixed as it pulled a hubcap from one of the wheels before padding over to their own vehicle with the item in its mouth, dropping it next to the car and banging on her window.

The experience would have been unusual enough in its own right, but what made it bear-ly believable was the fact that, just weeks before, all the hubcaps had been stolen from Azra's car.

She said: "Normally all the bears are asleep when we drive past them but this one was walking about so all the cars had stopped. The bear just took the wheel cap off and started walking towards my car.

"I was so surprised when it banged on the window - I thought it was going to break it. It was like it wanted to give me the wheel cap.

"My little boy was crying but my daughter was enjoying it. She was saying, 'Oh my God mummy, look what he's doing'."

A park warden scared off the bear and returned the hubcap to its rightful owners, leaving the bemused Azra and her children to carry on with their day out.

She added: "I don't know what the bear was doing - maybe it had some sympathy with me over the hubcaps, or maybe it thought it could sell one to me."

Whatever the cause of its visit to their car, it was unlikely the creature was eyeing the family up as its next meal. American black bears, which can grow to up to two metres n height and weigh as much as 300kg, eat mostly plants, berries, and seeds, with the occasional fish or small mammal.

Safari Park spokesman Cheryl Williams said she hadn't heard of a hubcap being pulled off at the park before, but that an animal would investigate something that attracted its attention.

Despite their mainly vegetarian nature, she said the animals were still very dangerous, adding: "If a helpful bear does appear at your window, make sure it's done up all the way to the top."