A heroic grandmother fought off a raging wild bear with a watering can as it attacked her five-year-old granddaughter.
Elena Kosach, 57, a teacher, single-handedly took on the beast which pounced on little Masha as she played in the family garden in Primorsky region, eastern Russia.
Armed only with her watering can, she raced into a “one-to-one fight with the predator” when she saw it grab her granddaughter, said relatives of the pair.
She forced the brown bear to release the girl who was clutched in its paws.
Elena struck the predator repeatedly with her watering can, so saving Masha from being “torn to pieces” by the angry bear, reported Komsomolskaya Pravda.
She yelled at the scared beast which fled into the forest in Yakovlevsky district and is now being hunted by armed rangers to prevent a repeat attack on humans.
The quick-thinking grandmother also saved her daughter Yekaterina Podlozhnyuk, 32, Masha’s mother, who stood nearby clutching her newborn baby.
Elena’s other daughter Ksenia, 27, said that as she fought the bear, her mother shouted to Yekaterina to hide in the house with the baby boy.
Both Masha and her granny are now in hospital with claw gashes from the predator, a young bear which stood at about 5ft 8 inches on its hind legs.
The girl suffered head and neck wounds, and is with her father Yegor, 38 in a hospital ward.
Elena had a deep arm wound after her battle with the beast.
“She works in an orphanage, and is especially sensitive to children,” said Ksenia.
“She is ready to give her life in the case of danger to others.
“Of course, if not for my mother, people would have died.”
She has applied to the governor of Primorsky region, Oleg Kozhemyako, seeking a bravery award for her mother.
“I hope it is not only us who recognise her as a heroine.”
She said: “My mum deserves an award for saving people's lives.
“We, her relatives, believe that she accomplished a real feat.”
It is likely the young bear had been orphaned, and this is why it behaved so aggressively, said the newspaper report.
