A black bear leapt from a bush and attacked an elderly man after he tried to drive it away with stones.
The pensioner was enjoying a stroll near his home when the animal suddenly appeared on a riverside path.
He picked up several rocks and threw them in a bid to scare the beast away.
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But the bear immediately gave chase and knocked him down a steep embankment.
Terrifying footage showed the animal charging at the elderly man, reportedly in his 70s, before knocking him down the embankment.
The victim suffered only minor skin scrapes to his leg and was not bitten.
He was taken to a nearby medical centre for checks, given a rabies jab at the request of his family, and is now resting at home with no long-term harm.
A community spokesperson said the bear “pushed the man down the embankment and did not bite him,” adding that the animal was some distance away when the stones were thrown, which “may have provoked it”.
The same official, who has lived in the area for years, remarked: “There hasn’t been a bear here for decades – I’ve never seen one.”
The local government spokesperson said the animal “attacked out of instinct” but “did not bite him, only causing minor external skin scratches”.
After hospital checks and the vaccine, he returned home and is “fine,” they added.
“After the bear left, it never came back,” they confirmed.
The authorities have stressed that people should never throw objects or attempt to drive off wild bears, as this can trigger attacks.
The attack happened on a riverside path in Tucheng in Wuxi County, Chongqing Municipality, China, on 18 October.
Wuxi County sits in a mountainous area of the Daba Mountains.
Local officials said Asian black bears had been seen there in the past but were rare in recent decades.
The bear is believed to have come down from the surrounding hills and later fled back into the mountains, as reported by Need To Know.
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