A hiker attacked by a rampaging bear had a lucky escape after beating it off with an axe.
The man, named only as Peter, had been walking with his dog through the Malá Fatra mountain range in northern Slovakia, close to Poland’s southern border, when he was set upon by the brown bear.
Terrifying video shows the man standing beside a tree when the bear suddenly rushes at him from out of the undergrowth.
He is then seen clobbering the animal over the head with the axe handle before the bear appears to run off.
But it then returns, forcing the man to again hit it over the head, as his excited dog barks nearby.
According to reports, before the attack, the man had spotted a group of bears and had attempted to warn them off by whistling.
“I sprayed it all over and she kept attacking me.
“So I pulled out an axe and I hit her in the head twice. I hid behind a tree, and every time she attacked, I hit her in the head.
“If I didn't have the axe, she would have killed me right there.”
According to local media, the attack was one of two similar incidents in the same region over the weekend.
In both cases, an aggressive female bear accompanied by two cubs appeared on a nearby mountain trail.
It is not known whether the same animal was responsible for both attacks.
Terrifying video shows the man standing beside a tree when the bear suddenly rushes at him from out of the undergrowth.
He is then seen clobbering the animal over the head with the axe handle before the bear appears to run off.
But it then returns, forcing the man to again hit it over the head, as his excited dog barks nearby.
According to reports, before the attack, the man had spotted a group of bears and had attempted to warn them off by whistling.
“I sprayed it all over and she kept attacking me.
“So I pulled out an axe and I hit her in the head twice. I hid behind a tree, and every time she attacked, I hit her in the head.
“If I didn't have the axe, she would have killed me right there.”
According to local media, the attack was one of two similar incidents in the same region over the weekend.
In both cases, an aggressive female bear accompanied by two cubs appeared on a nearby mountain trail.
It is not known whether the same animal was responsible for both attacks.
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