Absolutely wild footage shows man fending off a protective black bear while rock climbing

Absolutely wild camera footage has captured the moment a rock climber came face to face with a protective and seemingly angry black bear.

The mountain climber was confronted with the intimidating animal while scaling down Japan's Mount Futago.

Oh, and did we mention Mount Futago is also a volcano?

Talk about high-stakes hiking.

Okay, so it may be dormant, but we reckon it still ups the thrill factor just a tad.

As the usually-nocturnal Japanese black bear charged towards him down the mountain side, the man could be seen taking a swing at the mad creature and bonking it clear on the nose.The bear came within inches of the climber's face in what we can only assume was the scariest moment of that man's life.

The bear tumbled past, stunned by the punch, before pivoting and rounding on the hiker again with her teeth bared.

The quick-thinking climber then deployed his mixed martial arts skills and karate moves against his massive foe, according to TMZ.

In the footage, which seems to have come from a helmet camera, the man can be seen swinging more punches and kicking at the bear as she furiously snapped her jaws.

After 30 seconds or so of fighting for his life, the bear ran off with a cub appearing from the scrub to follow its mum.

That explains the aggression, then.

Creative Commons

The video has since been shared from YouTube to Reddit, with the man stunning social media for his absolute cajones of steel for taking on a vicious mama bear and making it out alive.One social media user said on Reddit: "Damn, amazing how quickly he goes from peaceful climber mode into barbarian punching a bear in the f**king face. Adrenaline is something else."

A second added: "Dude he Steven Segalled that bear right off the damn mountain."

A third chipped in with a killer Star Wars reference: "Obi Wan would be proud of that positioning."

Another simply endorsed the outdoor activity: "Hiking, loads of fun!"

The video ended with the man continuing to climb down the cliff face.

We assume, due to the footage making it to the internet, that he made it home in one piece.

With one hell of a story, might we add.

Topics: Animals, News, World News, Weird, Social Media, Reddit, YouTube

Rachel Lang