Video: Terrifying moment polar bear attacks BBC cameraman in pod
This is the terrifying moment a wildlife cameraman comes face-to-face with a starving 1,000kg polar bear looking for its next meal in Arctic Norway.
The eight-foot predator repeatedly attacks the perspex cage housing Gordon Buchanan as he films a new series for the BBC.
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For 40 minutes the Scottish filmmaker endures the polar bear's sustained assault as it desperately looks for a weak spot in his pod, an on-ice equivalent of a shark cage.
The bear, with its powerful paws and giant teeth, was trying to get hold of the 40-year-old so she could feed herself and her two young cubs.
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Gordon, who has been filming wildlife for 20 years, said he has never been so scared.
He told SWNS: "A lot of people think that carnivores are intrinsically dangerous but most aren't - there's a minimal risk and attacks are the exception.
"But polar bears are different, without a doubt she wanted me for lunch. She was so persistent, looking for a weak spot for almost 45 minutes.
"I was terrified and you could hear my heartbeat on the mic. It really was a sensational moment and a worrying situation.
"It shows how enormous and powerful they are. It is the most difficult thing I have done and the scariest. I've not been terrified for 40 minutes before."
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But, thankfully, Gordon wasn't harmed in the incident - just a bit shaken, literally...
The Scotsman was in Svalbard filming for his three-part BBC series The Polar Bear Family and Me, will be screened over three consecutive nights on BBC2, starting on Monday, 7 January at 9.30pm.
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