This is the shocking moment an injured moose turned the tables and attacked a hunter, nearly stomping him to death as his terrified friends watched.
The images show two hunters approaching the elk with their hunting rifles in their hands.
But after one of them shot at the moose without killing it, the animal launched a fierce counterattack, charging directly at him.
He struck the hunter with his antlers and hooves, while the man lay helplessly on the ground and tried to defend himself.
The second hunter, seeing the huge moose striking his friend, hesitated to shoot, apparently fearing that the animal would turn on him.
Meanwhile, a third hunter, who was filming the incident from inside a vehicle, attempted to scare off the enraged moose.
The video of the snowfield in the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia), in Russia’s Far East, was taken earlier this month.
Local media did not reveal whether the hunter suffered serious injuries or required medical attention after the attack.
The images show two hunters approaching the elk with their hunting rifles in their hands. But after one of them shot at the moose without killing it, the animal launched a fierce counterattack, charging directly at him.
He struck the hunter with his antlers and hooves, while the man lay helplessly on the ground and tried to defend himself.
The elk (cervus canadensis) is the second largest species within the deer family and one of the largest land mammals in its native range of North America and Central and Eastern Asia.
While the antlers and velvet of the elk are used in traditional medicines in some parts of Asia, it is primarily hunted as a game species.
This comes after a bowhunter was gored to death by an enraged moose in Oregon, US, three years ago.
Mark David, 66, shot and wounded the moose with a bow and arrow in the Trask Road area of Tillamook County in August 2020.
David, of Hillsboro, had been hunting on private property when he shot the bull elk, but failed to kill the animal one night.
The hunter was unable to find the injured animal before nightfall and decided to search for it the next day, according to Oregon State Police.
He went out with the property owner to look for the moose the next morning, but they found the animal alive.
David tried to kill the elk with his bow, but the enraged animal charged at the hunter and gored him in the neck with its antlers.
The second hunter, seeing the huge moose striking his friend, hesitated to shoot, apparently fearing that the animal would turn on him.
Mark David, 66, was gored to death by a moose (pictured) in the Trask Road area of Tillamook County in August 2020.
The property owner attempted to intervene but David suffered fatal injuries and died at the scene.
“The homeowner attempted to help David, but he suffered life-threatening injuries and died,” Oregon State Police said.
The moose was killed and the meat was donated to the Tillamook County Jail following the investigation, police said in a statement.