Hiker’s chilling last moments as bear charges at him before he plunges to death

The final moments of Christos Stavrianidis, 61, showed him being chased by a bear while he was out hiking with his pal Dimitris in a mountainous area in northern Greece

These are the chilling final moments of a hiker who plunged to his death^[1] after he was charged at by a bear in a forest.

Christos Stavrianidis, 61, managed to record the horror encounter on is phone as he walked with a friend in the Fratko forest in northern Greece^[2]. The 49-second-long clip showed a large brown bear moving toward him.

Just seconds later, Christos fell 2,600ft from the cliff^[3] as his screams echoed around him. In recovered footage, he could be heard shouting for his pal Dimitris. As the bear approached, he said: “Where are you? Come! Come to me.”

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His voice became more desperate, and was heard saying: “Where are you? Come here to me. Come to me, I say. Come to me.” The hikers had a dog with them at the time, which barked loudly at the bear.

Christos coughed in the moments before the end of the video with him being seen plunging into the ravine below. Dimitris described how the pair enjoyed a day trip before coming face to face with the bear.

The veteran ramblers had hiked into the forest to visit the remains of a 70-year-old downed Greek warplane. He told national media: “My friend Christos and I went on a day trip to the Fraktos forest and visited the aircraft he had recently found, and we made our way back.

“At one point, near a peak, he went to see the view from above. I didn’t follow him because I didn’t feel the need, I went 10 meters ahead and I hear him shouting ‘Dimitris, come see a bear.'”

Dimitris said he believed the bear was further away and was stunned when he saw how close it was to Christos. He added: “The bear was six or seven meters close to Christos, it attacked, 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. I didn’t even have time… I was really stunned.

“The dog jumped in front of me and surprised it for two or three seconds, then it counterattacked. It stood up and rushed forward like that. I managed to get ahead, I took out the pepper spray, sprayed it, and it ran away.”

Dimitris described the bear as “huge” and believed it to be an adult male. He claimed to have no memory after his pal fell to his death and did not recall when the bear left, reports MailOnline.

He also told TV ERT, Greece’s national broadcaster, that Christos had run out of bear spray when he was approached by the giant animal. “I’ve never seen such speed and such strength before,” he added.

A spokesman for Greek wildlife organisation Arcturos said the bear was displaying “defensive behaviour” rather than that of “attack”. “The bear is trying to push back what it sees as a threat,” he told TV ERT^[6].

Christos Stavrianidis died on June 8 and his funeral was held four days later. A forensic report confirmed he died instantly in the fall.