A 61-year-old climber, Christos Stavrianidis, recorded a bear attack and the final moments of his life on his mobile phone before falling to his death in a ravine in Northern Greece. The tragic accident occurred on Sunday, June 8 in the forest of Frakto, Drama, after he and a friend encountered a bear.
The 49-second video, which has since been made public, shows the bear approaching the two men. In the footage, Stavrianidis is heard shouting to his friend, “Where are you? Come! Come to me,” while the bear moves just a short distance away.
A male voice, likely his friend, is heard saying, “Shoot.” A sound resembling a spray is heard, followed by Stavrianidis coughing as he repeats, “Shoot spray.” The final frames of the video show Stavrianidis’s fall into the ravine.
The terrifying events leading to the fatal bear attack in Greece
The friend of the deceased, who witnessed the attack, recounted the terrifying events. He described how Stavrianidis first spotted the bear near a cliff and called for him to come and see it. As he approached, he realized the bear was only a few meters away from Stavrianidis and had already attacked him.
The friend detailed his own encounter with the animal: “The bear was six or seven meters close to Christos…he sprayed it with a small spray he had on him, it ran away, came to me and I saw it two or three meters in front of me.”
The dog that was with them barked, distracting the bear for a moment, allowing the friend to spray it with pepper spray, which caused the animal to flee. The friend said he believes the bear then turned back to Stavrianidis, pushing him off the cliff.
A subsequent forensic examination confirmed that Stavrianidis’ death was instantaneous from the fall.
Related: Spectacular Return: Greece’s Bears Wake Up from Hibernation in Captivating Video
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