A MAN resembling a "mummy" has been found alive in a bear's den a month after the beast attacked him and dragged him to its lair for a future meal.
Named only as Alexander, the victim was severely injured and close to death when hunting dogs found him in Russia’s remote Tuva region.
The emaciated man was rushed to hospital where medics discovered he'd broken his spine after being set upon by the brown bear.
He told doctors that the predator had overpowered him - then tossed him in its den where it kept him for a month.
CLOSE TO DEATH
Alexander explained: “
The bear preserved me as food for later. I drank my own urine to survive."
A group of Russian hunters found Alexander after their dogs barked and refused to move on from a bear's den they passed in the forest, it's reported.
When the hunters checked inside the lair the saw what they believed to be a "human mummy" - until they realised he was alive.
The bear preserved me as food for later. I drank my own urine to survive
Alexander
A hospital video shows the bearded man opening his eyes and confirming his first name.
He was described as having “severe injuries and rotting tissue” from lying motionless for so long in the den.
“Local medics say they cannot explain how the man survived such injuries,” said the report.
The exact location where he was found has not been revealed, nor the name of the hospital where he was treated.
He was spoken to by medical staff in Russian rather than the local Tuvan language.
Brown bears are known to hide their prey and return to feast on it later.
'AMAZING'
But Dr Louise Gentle, senior lecturer in wildlife conservation at Nottingham Trent University, said a bear attacking, and dragging, a human into its den is a "vary rare thing to happen".
The expert, also a researcher in animal behaviour, explained: "It's amazing how this man survived.
"It's very rare for a bear to go near a human - bears are actually more wary of us and therefore avoid us.
"Yet in this case it seems the bear seized an opportunity and stored the man as food to eat at a later date. It is possible that the man somehow antagonised the animal - maybe the bear had cubs nearby and was protecting them.
"It's a weird scenario."
Tuva is located in south Siberia, about 2,300 miles east of Moscow, and borders Mongolia.
It has a sparsely populated wilderness and contains Lake Baikal - the deepest and oldest in the world.
Tuva is one of Vladimir Putin's favourite hunting and fishing destinations, with the Russian leader previously being photographed reeling in the big fish.
The current temperature in Tuva is around 15C, but during winter the mercury dips to an average of -32C.
Man 'dragged away by a bear is found ALIVE one month later looking like a mummy after being stored inside its den as food'