Photo taken on June 4, 2018, shows an adult brown bear standing by the wire fence inside Arcturos wildlife sanctuary, where more than 20 bears have found shelter, in Florina, Greece. Xinhua/Dimitris Tosidis via Getty Images

A veteran Greek hiker died Tuesday after falling into a ravine in the north of the country after a bear encounter, rescuers said.

Christos Stavrianidis was declared dead at Kavala hospital shortly after he was found in the 2,600-foot ravine in Fraktou forest in northeastern Greece, the Ekav national emergency center told AFP.

Stavrianidis was in the forest with another experienced hiker, Dimitris Kioroglou, when the incident happened on Monday.

"I suddenly saw a bear which attacked me," Kioroglou told news portal NewsIT. "My dog delayed it for a few seconds. I used pepper spray, and it headed to where my friend was and knocked him into the ravine."

Kioroglou told state TV ERT that Stavrianidis had run out of bear spray when the "very big bear" approached him.

"I've never seen such speed and such strength before," he told the outlet.

Panos Stefanou, spokesman for Greece wildlife group Arcturos, said the bear was likely defending itself.

"This is more a defensive behavior, not an attack. The bear is trying to push back what it sees as a threat," he told TV ERT.

The hikers were heading toward the remains of a Greek warplane that crashed in the area some seven decades earlier.

Stavrianidis had found the plane deep in the forest last August. He was leading efforts to identify a more accessible route to its location to enable more people to visit the wreckage.

"It's a beautiful discovery that deserves to be viewed on location ... the fuselage is nearly intact," he had told a local journalist last year.

"It's a treasure of nature and should be left (in the forest)," he had said.

Brown bears are protected under Greek law, according to Ursa Trails, which notes the biggest populations are located in the mountains of western Rhodopes and Northern and Central Pindos.

The brown bear population is much denser farther north in Europe. Last month, Slovenia approved the culling of more than 200 brown bears, whose population in a forested area outside the capital had grown to around 1,000.

Slovakia has also grappled with a surging brown bear population as well as attacks on humans. In April, lawmakers approved a plan to shoot about 350 brown bears in Slovakia after a man was mauled to death while walking in a forest there, the BBC reported.

Last year, a woman died in Slovakia after being chased by a bear through dense forest and mountainous terrain.

Source