KHABAROVSK, August 16 (RIA Novosti) - A brown bear mauled a sleeping camper to death in Russia's Far East Thursday morning, a local Interior Ministry spokesman said.
"Several campers sleeping in tents were suddenly awakened by a loud growling and the sound of someone struggling," the spokesman said. "An enormous brown bear practically tore a 37-year-old man into pieces."
The camper died of serious injuries soon after the attack, and the bear was shot dead by other campers.
It is the third instance of aggressive behavior by wild animals in the Far East this year. In May, a worker at a water treatment plant was seriously injured in a brown bear attack.
In August, a brown bear bit off a five-year-old girl's hand when she approached its cage in a recreation area in Khabarovsk.
Russia has the world's largest brown bear population, estimated at over 100,000.
