Beaver Kills Fisherman Trying to Take a Picture of It; Rare Occurrence Happened in Daytime

A beaver killed a fisherman in Belarus who was trying to photograph it. The man, who has not been identified, was a former member of the army. The attack happened at daytime. The beaver bit the man’s thigh. The 60-year-old man died later.

In a rare and unlikely attack, the beaver killed the fisherman when he was trying to snap a photograph of it. The beaver launched itself on him. The attack happened in the Minkovichi area in Brest.

Officials are citing a lack of caution when the man approached the beaver. The man was with a group of friends who called medical emergency operators and tried to stop the bleeding.

The deputy head of the wildlife inspectorate in the region, Sergei Shtyk, said "A beaver is a wild animal, after all. It was early morning and already light when they saw a beaver by the road, which was unusual because beavers are nocturnal. One of them went up to be photographed with it, and the animal attacked him and bit him twice, cutting an artery in his thigh, before running away."

Shtyk added "The man's friends tried to bandage him and find a doctor in a nearby village but he died from blood loss before help arrived."

This is the first fatal incident of this type ever recorded in Brest. Deaths by beaver attacks are not a common occurrence in the area.

Sergei Shilinchuk, deputy head of the environmental protection committee in Brest, said "People have lost fingers, that's the worst I've come across. The beaver is not normally aggressive, but it does have big teeth and immensely powerful jaws; it can cut down a tree three feet wide."

Shilinchuk said that an more and more beavers have been spotted in the area. He said that there are almost twice as many beavers in the area as there were five years ago.

Shilinchuk continued "We're making efforts to stimulate commercial use of beaver meat but that hasn't taken off yet."