Bear mauls man to death in Bulgaria

People walk on the street, backdropped by Bulgarian, EU and the flag of Sofia town on Vitosha boulevard in downtown Sofia. (AP Photo/Valentina Petrova)

Warning: Graphic content.

A bear mauled to death a man at Vitosha, a mountainous region just outside Bulgarian capital Sofia, police told AFP on Sunday.

“The findings of the medical examiner and a wildlife expert show that marks found on the body are those of a female bear accompanied by her cub,” a Sofia police spokesperson said.

Police did not disclose the age of the victim, but Bulgarian media reported him as being in his 30s.

His body was located Saturday afternoon near a road connecting two chalets in the northwestern part of the mountainous area around half an hour by road out of Sofia rising to 2,295 metres (7,500 feet) and located about 30 minutes from Sofia.

Vitosha is a popular hiking destination for residents of the Sofia, being home to a range of wild animals, including deer, roe deer, wild boars and wolves.

The area is believed to be home to around a dozen bears.

The last recorded case of a person killed by a bear in Bulgaria dates back to 2010, in the Rhodope Mountains in the country’s south.