Japan ― A man delivering newspapers early in the morning got a surprise from an attacker, which he later realised was a bear.
A 75-year-old paper deliveryman working in a small town in Akita Prefecture in northern Japan made local news after his bout with a bear on Sept 17.
While making his daily deliveries, placing papers in subscribers’ mailboxes at 3 am last Friday, the man was suddenly attacked from behind.
The silent figure sneaked up on the man and tackled him to the ground.
As it was still dark, the man could not see his attacker, and he began to fight back.
“Who the hell are you?” the man shouted while he pushed and punched back.
However, the attacker did not respond.
He soon realised that the reason why the assailant did not provide a name was that it was a bear.
“I had my work gloves on, so at first I couldn’t feel its fur, and I thought I’d been fighting a human,” the man said in a SoraNews24 report.
“When I realised it was a bear, I got really scared and didn’t think I had any chance of beating it,” he added.
The man sustained a gash on his shoulders and back, but was able to put up enough of a fight until the bear ran away, reports noted.
Thankful that his injuries were not life-threatening, the man returned home and contacted the police to alert them of the incident.
He recalled the bear was about as large as he was, making it about 160 centimetres tall.
A second bear attack occurred later that morning, about 250 metres away from the initial site.
An 84-year-old woman was out for an early morning walk when the bear attacked, injuring her arms.
Authorities believe that the assailant on both incidents was the same bear.
They have cautioned nearby residents to be on the lookout for the wild animal and report any incidents. /TISG
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