Man killed in beaver attack on fishing trip in Belarus
A man has been bitten to death by a beaver in a lakeside attack in Belarus.
The man was fishing at Lake Shestakov in Belarus with two friends when he spotted the animal on the side of the road.
According to The Sun, when he attempted to take a photograph of it, the rodent attacked, biting his thigh and severing an artery in the process.
The man's friends attempted to stem the blood flow, but he died from blood loss before help could arrive.
Beavers are generally known as gentle creatures but, as with many wild animals, it is thought they can get defensive when feeling threatened or vulnerable.
Sergei Shilinchuk, deputy head of Brest's environmental protection committee, spoke to The Daily Telegraph about the incident, and said he had never heard of a fatal beaver attack.
He said: "People have lost fingers – that's the worst I've come across. The beaver is not normally aggressive, but it does have big teeth and immensely powerful jaws; it can cut down a tree three feet wide."
Mr Shilinchuk added that Belarus' beaver population has doubled in the last five years, and there have been problems keeping the population numbers in check.
The news comes just days after a man in the Tver region of Russia, north west of Moscow, posted a video online of a beaver attacking him.
Luckily, he escaped without injury.
See the footage below:
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