Terrifying moment man is savagely attacked by 40st bear at zoo leaving him covered in blood in front of visitors

DISTURBING footage shows the moment a man was savagely attacked by a raging 40st bear at a zoo in front of horrified visitors.

The man climbed the 13ft enclosure and jumped into the bear pit before the beast tossed him around like a rag doll.

Footage shot by shocked visitors shows the bear pouncing on the man, said to be in his mid-20s, before grabbing him and clamping its jaws around his shoulders.

He was seen bleeding from the head, arms and left hand after the brutal attack while the emergency services scrambled into action.

Rescuers first fired rounds of dummy 9mm bullets in a bid to stop the rampaging bear.

But when the beast did bit stop, they were left with no other option but to fire a single bullet into its chest. 

Cops and paramedics then rushed into the enclosure and the man was quickly taken away on a stretcher to a waiting ambulance.

He was treated in hospital for severe head and leg injuries, but his condition at the time was said to be "comfortable".

While the bear's condition was deemed critical when vets began their treatment, the animal animal was quick to recover.

An outpouring of public sympathy was for the bear after the incident, police and zoo officials said.

Bouquets and pots of honey were placed outside his enclosure, the DailyMail reports.

And according to Swiss tourism websites, he is still in the bear pit with his pal Björk and two cubs.

The terrifying attack unfolded at Bern Bear Park in Switzerland in November 2009. 

Around 40 bear attacks take place around the globe every year - and some of them turn out to be fatal.

In September, a massive brown bear fatally mauled a father and son after the raging beast broke into their home.

The man-eating bear broke into the house in Luchegorsk, Primorsky region in eastern Russia, killing and eating the pair, aged 87 and 56.

Meanwhile, another man was savagely mauled to death by a wild brown bear as he picked mushrooms in a forest in Slovakia's latest attack.

The beast tore one of the victim's main arteries with just its paw, the rescuers' report claims.

Despite an emergency chopper being able to locate the man in the tricky terrain, they were too late and couldn't save him.

In March of this year a woman was left dead and five others injured after two separate bear attacks just hours apart in Slovakia.

A Belarusian woman was found dead in the Low Tatras mountains on Saturday while five others were injured by a rampaging bear just eight miles away in Liptovsky Mikulas the following day.

In a shocking case, a hoverboard-riding circus bear attacked its handler during a cruel show in front of screaming families in Russia.

The raging female bear suddenly became agitated and lunged at the circus performer during a show packed with kids and parents in Biysk.

The captive animal launched itself at Sergei Prichinich, 48, after she seemed fed up of having to perform on the hoverboard.

Footage shows female brown bear Donut - who weighs a whopping 35 stone - riding around the massive red cage on the hoverboard before looking at the tamer and running at him.

In what looks to be a rugby tackle, the bear grabs the circus performer by the legs and throws him to the ground as onlookers watch on in horror.

Prichinich is filmed stuck under Donut for a few long seconds as he tries to redirect her face away from him to escape.

Meanwhile in Canada last year, a married couple were killed after a gruesome attack by a grizzly bear while taking their dog out for a walk.

Officials said the horrific scene took place at the Banff National Park in Alberta in the Red Deer River Valley, west of Ya Ha Tinda Ranch.