The man, identified as Mr Piotr, said he whistled to alert the bears that he was in the forest in Bratislava, Slovakia, but they paid no notice and charged him down
Moment hiker uses axe to defend himself from charging bear
A hiker managed to fend off a charging bear using a tiny axe. The man was walking his dog along a nature trail near Bratislava, Slovakia, when he noticed the animal with her cubs and a young adult bear, believed to be a grown sibling.
He claims to have whistled to alert the bears of his presence so they wouldn’t be surprised, but the mother attacked him anyway. Footage showed the brave hiker, named Mr Piotr, taking cover behind a forked tree as the bear charged at him. He whacked it with his small axe, used to cut down overgrown branches during his ramble. The bear circled around and attacked again, but the man was ready with his chopper, similar in shape to a shepherd’s axe.
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The bear then ran into the woods as the hiker’s dog gave chase. The man was seen spraying the air with a bear deterrent as the clip came to an end. The dramatic animal attack took place in the Malá Fatra mountain range, northeast of Bratislava, Slovakia, on Friday.
According to reports, the bear’s cubs followed her down the slope after she ran away. Mr Piotr was uninjured. He told local media: “She flattened her ears and charged me. I had bear spray with me, but it didn’t help.
“I sprayed it everywhere, but she kept attacking me. So I took out an axe and hit her on the head twice. I hid behind a tree and every time she attacked, I hit her on the head. If I didn’t have the axe, she would have killed me on the spot.”
Mr Piotr said he carries the handheld tool to clear the path of hanging branches and undergrowth. He also warned other hikers to take extra care in the coming months as bears will soon enter their mating season and there will be more of them in the area.
One local said online: “It’s amazing how he didn’t panic.” A second added: “Wow, brave guy, hats off.” A third said: “He was lucky.” A fourth person said: “Those babies. This is seriously amazing.”
It comes after an 81-year-old man was put on trial for killing an endangered bear that attacked and left him with broken legs after dragging him several metres. Andre Rives was hunting boar in the French Pyrenees on November 20, 2021, when the female brown bear called Caramelles, protecting her cubs, charged and mauled him in a terrifying assault.
It is reported that two bear cubs first came out of woods before the mother attacked Mr Rives, biting and dragging him before he managed to shoot and kill it. The elderly man was left with fractures to both his legs and severe bleeding from an artery.
He was in a state of shock when a fellow hunter came to his aid and helped stop the bleeding before he was taken away by a rescue helicopter. And Mr Rives now faces legal proceedings as the brown bear is a protected species in the Pyrenees, a mountain range separating France and Spain.
