By Petya Gaidarova

An angry bear like the one pictured above attacked Kezim Drikov.

A bear attacked two men by the now defunct village of Chamla, near Smolyan. Recep Uzunov and Kezim Drikov were busy inspecting, about 7 p.m. on a Monday, the timber cut by their logging crew, when a huge bear suddenly appeared out of the blue and, with a swing of its mighty paw, sent 28 year-old Kezim flying 7-8 meters across the air. The man was out cold for some 15 minutes, but otherwise received no serious injuries and his life is not in danger.

‘He simply lost his speech for a while, his body hurt here and there and his clothes were torn,’ his boss Recep Uzunov tells the story. Then he goes on, ‘There were just the two of us. We had been cutting timber in the area. As we moved along, we came across two young bear cubs and managed to drive them away, yelling and cussing. Next thing we knew, their mother came running out of nowhere and attacked Kezim, tossing him to the ground with a single blow.’ Redjep (40) owns a logging company, Dikilitas, and has spent over 15 years of his life working in the woods. On that fateful day he managed to reach his Niva SUV, parked nearby, and drove it at full throttle at the beast. ‘The bear ran against the vehicle, threw itself onto the hood, crushing it, then jumped off and ran away,’ Uzunov finishes his story.

‘It was a mighty huge beast, if I’d been alone in the woods that would’ve been the end of me. The guy I work for and I went to inspect the timber and all of a sudden there was this knock on my shoulder and I took off like a rocket. I didn't see her at all, there was no growl, no roar, she just sent me flying with a single punch. When I came to, I got up and climbed a nearby tree. I was lucky the boss gave chase in the SUV, distracting her. And even then the bear smashed against his hood, which caved in under her weight, she was so mad. It was like a horror movie, I tell you. The beast must have been over 200 kilos. I saw her from up in the tree,’ the still frightened Kezim says.

The young man has decided to see a witch doctor to get rid of his fright. The rest of the logging crew are too scared to venture into the woods anymore. Uzunov and Drikov filed a complaint with the local forestry service at the village of Mugla, asking for protection at their logging grounds near Chamla. The long abandoned village acquired instant fame once its surrounding lands became property of the tycoon Vasil Bozhkov.

This is by far not the only incident involving one or more of the 15 bears living nearby. Recently, a 150-kg beast smashed 27 beehives in the village of Mugla. Just a week ago, two young man-eaters invaded the village of Dve Topoli, chasing livestock down the street in broad daylight, at 4 p.m.

A little more than a month before that, Recep Cetili and Rustem Emin lost 11 cows in another bear attack on the same village.