The bear was shot after police declared a curfew (
The bear was shot after police declared a curfew.
A raging brown bear mauled a father and son to death after breaking into their home just hours after it killed 35 dogs in a shelter.

The man-eating beast broke into the house in the Primorsky region of Russia before killing and devouring the father and son, aged 87 and 56. Hunting inspectors were immediately ordered to track down and kill the bear after it was feared it could strike again - and hours later, they found and shot the predator. Police had cordoned off the village and stood guard to protect terrified locals. A night curfew was also imposed.

Harrowing pictures showed the mauled corpses of the men and the dogs. Bear expert Sergey Aramilev said the animal's behaviour was not typical for the species, and it is likely the beast had been wounded by hunters, or was deranged and aggressive from rabies. He said: "If the bear kills people, then it was either injured by a person or sick with rabies. A healthy bear would definitely not do this, it would not even come close to a populated area."

The shot bear appeared to be underweight, suggesting it was sick. The stray dogs kept at the shelter had been chained up and could not escape as the wild bear ran amok, killing 35 of them in their kennels within just a few minutes. Dog shelter director Olga Zamyshlyaeva said: "Our shelter is in a forest area, the fence is wooden and flimsy. The bear came in at night and 35 dogs died. We don't have security here, the dogs are kept in kennels. We found bear tracks at the scene."

Earlier this year, a woman died after being chased by a marauding bear in Slovakia. The 31-year-old from Belarus was walking with a male companion in the mountains when the animal reportedly set upon them. Her body was discovered by the Slovak Mountain Rescue Service on Friday 15 March. The bear was still nearby when the rescuers arrived, and was scared away by warning shots from a gun.

Footage captured last November in Russia also showed the moment a ferocious bear suddenly broke into a smoking room and attacked two men. The brutal mauling left the the factory workers, named as, Eldar Gareev, 39, and Ivan Bulashenko, 46, with serious head and arm injuries.