How the brown bear became public enemy number one in rural Romania

Despite a national hunting ban, the attitude to bears has become increasingly hostile, with some remote villagers taking matters into their own hands

High up in the Carpathian mountains, a forest guard named Csaba Demeter was leaving the woods one evening early this summer when a brown bear attacked him from behind. It pinned him to the ground, sunk its teeth into his limbs and tore deep lacerations into his back with its claws. Demeter pulled his coat over his head and played dead, holding his breath and stiffening his limbs as the bear dug into his flesh. It was five minutes before the animal gave up and moved slowly back into the forest, leaving Demeter barely alive on the mountainside.