A hiker was killed in northern Greece this summer after he fell down a ravine while being charged at by a bear.
Christos Stavrianidis, 61, was walking through the Fratko forest with his friend Dimitris when the pair encountered the ferocious beast.
Dimitris’ life was spared, but he believes Christos was ‘pushed’ down the cliff by the bear after it came charging at them.
Footage of the horror encounter surfaced this week, with a video clip showing how a large brown bear appeared on the path and moved towards Christos before the hiker plunged to his death.
The story has shocked the nation, but this was not the first time a case of its kind has grabbed headlines.
A hiker was killed in northern Greece this summer after he fell down a ravine while being charged at by a bear
Romanian bear scare
Earlier this year, a video captured the moment a driver was forced to jump through his car window to escape a fierce bear in Romania.
The unnamed man had been parked on the roadside of the Transfagarasan highway in the Carpathian Mountains before the beast launched its attack.
The man was able to escape, but a tourist visiting the same area was not as lucky, and was savagely killed the week before.
Italian motorcyclist Omar Farang Zin, 49 was riding on his motorbike along the Carpathian Mountains back in June when a vicious bear attacked him and dragged his body down a ravine.
Police and emergency services said in a joint statement that tourists had alerted them to to the attack, and after an hour of searching for him, they found Omar’s lifeless body.
Just a day before the tragic incident, the motorcyclist had posted pictures of a bear, which appeared to be stood dangerously close to him
The tourist shared images and videos of his bear sightings prior to his death
Just a day before the tragic incident, the motorcyclist had posted a series of pictures on Facebook of a large bear which appears to be stood extremely close to Omar.
He also shared a selfie posing with a bear cub, in which he can be seen smiling, blissfully unaware of his tragic fate.
A separate video taken by Omar showed him riding his motorcycle as he drives past a bear perched on the side of the road.
‘Here’s the bear!’, he can be heard saying. ‘How beautiful. It’s coming towards me’.
Mauled to death by rabid bear
In eastern India, a father-and-son outing ended in tragedy after a bear launched a violent attack, killing both men and leaving a forest ranger critically injured.
Father Suklal Darro, 45, and 22-year-old son Ajju Kureti set off into the forest to gather wood in the Kanker area of Chhattisgarh.
A father and son were killed after a rabid sloth bear brutally mauled them to death while they picked firewood
A terrifying video captured the moment the tragedy unfolded and how the ferocious beast attacked the duo
But in an gruesome twist, their peaceful day out turned deadly after a rabid sloth bear mauled the father and son to death.
A terrifying video captured the moment the tragedy unfolded and how the ferocious beast attacked forest guard, Narayan Yadav, who heroically jumped in to save the father and son.
The video shows the bear angrily charging towards Mr Yadav as a man can be heard shouting: ‘Don’t run away!’, while the animal gets close to the ranger.
The bear then jumps onto Mr Yadav and attacks him before pinning him down against the forest floor.
Pressing its massive paws on his chest, the bear is heard growling as it bites into a helpless Mr Yadav’s neck, face and torso as he screams for help.
Luckily, the forest guard escaped, but sustained severe injuries to his hands and was rushed to hospital, where he was in critical condition.
But Mr Darro and Mr Kureti were not so lucky and tragically died as a result of the violent attack.
Dragged into a forest
In Japan, a hiker was killed after a bear attacked and dragged him into the forest.
The victim, who was in his 20s, tried to fight off the large animal but was pulled into the nearby woods with his legs bleeding profusely, according to local media outlets, including the Yomiuri Shimbun newspaper.
He was initially reported as missing on August 14 by a man who was hiking alongside him on Mount Rausu, situated on the northern island of Hokkaido.
A search and rescue mission was launched and a day later the victim was found and taken to hospital where he was officially pronounced dead.
Martial arts brawl
And a climber made headlines in October 2022 after he was forced to use his martial arts skills to fight off an enraged black bear that lunged at him repeatedly on a rock face on Japan’s Mount Futago.
Fearing for his life, the man lashed out at the snarling beast, using his fists and feet to strike it until it gave up and ran away.
He said he used his karate and mixed martial arts training as he had to defend himself, claiming that this was likely to have saved his life.
The unnamed climber believes the mother bear was defending her cub and that he had invaded her territory.
A climber was forced to use his martial arts skills to fight off an enraged black bear that lunged at him repeatedly on a rock face on Japan’s Mount Futago in October 2022
The bear lunged at him as she was defending her cub and even though he punched, kicked and screamed and fought it off, it came back
Polar bear rampage
In April, a man was filmed running for his life from a lumbering polar bear on a remote Arctic island.
Residents of the tiny village of Pyramiden had been trying to scare off bears after one was spotted sniffing around residents’ snowmobiles.
But a harrowing clip from the island of Svalbard showed the moment one brazen creature, undeterred even by a volley of gunshots, turned and gave chase.
The animal, capable of running at speeds of up to 25mph, charged at the man who, in his panic, dropped his rifle as he leapt onto a snowmobile.
The bear was seen just feet away from the lucky Russian as the snowmobile came to his dramatic rescue.
Terrifying footage has captured the desperate charge of a man running for his life from a lumbering polar bear on a remote Arctic island
The horrific incident took place in the island of Svalbard
Man vs Bear
Also this year, a man was forced to fight off a bear with a hatchet after disturbing her and her cubs.
Footage taken in the Zilina region of Slovakia on March 21 with a camera trap shows the man walking in the peaceful forest with his dog when the bear charges at him.
He can be seen spraying bear spray at it, with the bear initially retreating before having another go at him.
The man then strikes the beast’s head with his hatchet which he brought along to clear brush from the trail and the bear flees.
Footage taken in the Zilina region of Slovakia on March 21 with a camera trap shows the man walking in the peaceful forest with his dog
The man then strikes the beast’s head with his hatchet
The man, named only as Peter, later said that he believes that he injured the bear, saying that it will probably become more aggressive as a result
Circus Act
Meanwhile in Russia, a circus bear attacked its trainer in front of screaming children.
The roller-skating bear, a female called Dzhema, was being forced to perform tricks at the ironically named ‘Happiness Show’ at Mash Circus, Obnisk, in June last year.
Shocking footage captured by an audience member shows the trainer Oleg Krasov forcing Dzhema to sit in a chair with a pair of rollerskates tied to her rear paws.
Under the flourescent lights, the bear can be seen slouched in the seat as hundreds of faces around the venue peer out to watch the sick act unfold.
Suddenly, Krasov grabs the animal’s fur with two hands and pulls her up out of the chair, forcing her to stand on her hind legs.
He then forcefully drags Dzhema along the round, red, circus floor on her rollerskates before letting go of her and briskly walking off.
But as Dzhema drops to the ground, she begins leaping towards her cruel trainer while his back is to her.
Seeking her revenge, the bear charges towards Krasov until she strikes him, dragging him down onto the ground as he struggles to control the predator.
Circus trainer Oleg Krasov was seen in footage dragging female bear Dzhema to her hind legs after she had been sitting on a chair
After pulling her across the circus floor on her rollerskates, Krasov walked away before the bear launched her revenge attack
Dzhema floored Krasov in an attack that sent parents rushing from the venue with their screaming children
Waving his hands dramatically in front of him proves to be a useless method of getting Dzhema away from him as she holds her position on top of him while the audience members rise from their seats in panic.
Parents rush their screaming children from the arena while horrified circus workers dash onto the stage in an effort to tame the angered bear as she towers over Krasov.
According to local reports, Krasov survived the surprise attack without any serious injury.
Dragged into enclosure
Also last year, 36-year-old Naiphum Promratee’s life was irrevocably changed after he narrowly escaped being eaten alive by a bear in Thailand.
The man had visited a remote temple to see a ‘buffalo bear’ living in a small enclosure with a community of monks.
Naiphum saw the powerful animal, weighing 250kg, stuck in a small space for feeding – and decided to taunt it by dangling bowls of rice overhead.
But a morning out in the humid valleys of Phetchabun suddenly took a turn for the worse when the bear stood on its hind legs and dragged him down.
In an instant, Naiphum was pulled back into the enclosure, knocked unconscious and mauled, flesh torn from his chest with ease.
Naiphum’s visit to a Thai monastery took a turn for the worse when Bing the bear attacked
Naiphum was pulled down into the enclosure and mauled by the 250kg predator
Horrifying footage showed spectators trying in vain to scare away the bear as he mauled Naiphum.
His friends hit the bear with poles and threw cold water at it, to no avail.
The enraged animal continued to bite and scratch Promratee for almost a minute before it started dragging him across the dusty enclosure.
Emergency services arrived at the scene and rescued the man before taking him to hospital.
Mauled through car window
In a separate instance last year, a British woman was mauled by a brown bear in Romania.
Moira Gallacher and her fellow tourist Charmian Widdowson were driving on the Transfăgărășan mountain road in Argeş County on April 22 last year when they came across a mother bear and its cub.
The 72-year-old from West Lothian was keen to get a picture with the animals, but to her horror one leapt up and tried to get in the car as she wound down the window.
The predator clamped its jaws around her arm, with Ms Widdowson explaining to The Telegraph: ‘The mummy bear was hungry, and thought my friend was going to be lunch.’
After deciding she wanted to take a selfie with the bear, she rolled down her car window but one of the predators had jumped onto its hind legs
Moira Gallacher (pictured) was rushed to a nearby hospital and told local reporters her arm was ‘sore’
The Scottish tourist, 72, was driving through on a mountain road in Romania when she came across two bears
Fortunately for Ms Gallacher, her pal said, ‘she was wearing a thick Marks & Spencer jacket and the poor bear got more jacket than arm.’
The pensioner was rushed to hospital, and ultimately escaped what could have been a deadly encounter.
Narrow escape
In another impressive bear encounter, a 12-year-old-boy who had recently studied what to do if he came across a bear in the woods was forced to put his lessons to the test when one reared up on him while he walked through the Italian hills.
Animal lover Alessandro, 12, tried to remain calm and walk away slowly from the enormous animal that was following him.
The boy recorded the dramatic scene which happened while he was enjoying a picnic with his family in Sudtirol, northeastern Italy back in 2020.
Alessandro takes a look behind him and the bear then starts following him but he does not panic, putting into practice everything he read.
Alessandro, 12, had been enjoying a picnic with his family in Sudtirol, northeastern Italy, when the bear began following him through the woods
The youngster continues walking down the hill and the bear can be seen standing up on its hinds legs as the boy walks away.
The 12-year-old had reportedly studied how to behave if you come across a bear in the woods whilst reading at home in lockdown, and his uncle said: ‘Animals and forests are his passion.’
The bear reportedly left the area and nobody was injured.
