This is the horrifying moment a bear brutally mauls a tourist after he teased the beast by dangling food in its jaws.
Naiphum Promratee, 36, hung bowls of rice into the animal’s enclosure using rope while visiting the temple in rural Phetchabun province, Thailand.
But he angered the bear who stood on its hind legs and dragged him into the enclosure, knocking him unconscious before tearing off his flesh with its teeth.
Horrifying footage showed spectators trying in vain to scare away the bear as he mauled Promratee.
His friends hit the bear with poles and threw cold water at it, to no avail.
The bear continued to bite and scratch Promratee for almost a minute before it started dragging him across the dusty enclosure.
But one of the group ran into the enclosure and battered the bear in its cage with a pole while friends rescued Naiphum.
The day before the attack, the head abbot at the Wat Luang Phor Lamai temple said some of the creatures were ‘hungry’ because they were not being given enough food.
Emergency services arrived just after 11am local time and rushed the bloodied man to hospital, where he is now recovering and able to talk.
Bpae Permpoonsap, 60, from the Khon Khao Koo Pai rescue service, said: ‘We received a report today of a bear attack at 11.10am.
‘The bear was among other creatures being raised by monks at the temple. The man had gone to the temple with four or five friends and he was toying with the bear.
‘It pulled him in and attacked him. We arrived and found the man injured seriously. He had been with his friends and wanted to feed the animals.
‘He was lucky to survive and he is in hospital now and able to talk.’
The monks keep around two dozen wild boars in a small enclosure and a bear in a cage which they care for and allow guests to feed.
Bpae said the boars were outside in a nearby field while the bear roamed around the enclosure as it was fed.
Promratee is said to have made the trip to the temple after hearing about the plight of the creatures.
The temple had appealed for donations from members of the public to feed the animal.
A spokesman for People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) told MailOnline: ‘If you taunt a hungry bear, you’re likely to get hurt.
‘Bears are powerful predators who, in the wild, spend most of their time foraging and exploring home ranges that may cover thousands of miles – and smart people respect them enough to leave them alone.
‘They suffer immensely when they’re trapped in barren concrete pits, denied everything that’s natural and important to them and left with nothing to do but pace back and forth and beg for food, often slowly going out of their minds with frustration.
‘While this man got away with his life, bears around the world will continue to live and die in misery as long as humans still incarcerate animals in the name of entertainment.’