Brown bear on loose in Siberia armed with shotgun and assault rifle
KEY POINTS
- Warning after bear takes two guns from hunter's cabin in the Irkutsk region.
- Believed to be in possession of Vepr carbine and IZH shotgun.
Residents in a remote Siberian region have been warned to be on the look out for a brown bear currently roaming the armed with two guns.
The bear is believed to have collected his arsenal after walking into a forest cabin the Irkutsk region.
The 57-year-old hunter who was occupying the cabin at the time was not there when the bear arrived as he had left to go get water from a nearby river.
When he returned, he saw that his two guns were missing along with his bag, with teeth and scratch marks also appearing in the cabin.
"On 16 November he was hunting miles away from the nearest village and decided to stay at a forest cabin," a statement from the local interior ministry said according to the Siberian Times
"He left his belongings in the cabin and went to get some water. On his return, he heard some suspicious sounds and spotted a bear.
"To avoid an encounter with the animal, the hunter scurried off into the woods where he hid for several hours."
The man looked for his weapons in the woods for several days to no avail before contacting the police.
The bear in question is said to be in possession of a Vepr carbine and IZH shotgun.
