This is the horrifying moment that an orphaned baby bear is brutally battered over the head with a metal pipe before its lifeless body is dragged away by its drunk attacker. Shocking footage of the incident shows a Russian man striking the cub with the 5ft pipe as his friend looks on and laughs. The young bear had been foraging for food with its sibling in woods near an oil field in Khanty-Mansiysk, western Serbia, when it was approached by two men drinking from large beer bottles.
The cubs had lost their mother just weeks earlier. The video, which was filmed by a man working at the Priobskoye oil field, in Khanty-Mansiysk, western Siberia, was met with widespread outrage after it was uploaded to YouTube earlier this month.
The cameraman, known only as Alexey, said that the cubs, who were recently orphaned, had grown used to being fed by him and his colleagues. The cub that was attacked has not been seen since.
Speaking to the Siberian Times, Alexey explained that the animals were both very comfortable interacting with humans - even allowing the oil field workers to put collars on their necks.
He was filming the animals as they left the woods when two drunken men, drinking from large bottles of beer, stepped out a car and approached the animals.
Unaware of the potential danger, the cubs remained calm as the two men walked towards them.
Encouraged by his laughing friend, one of the men picked up a 5ft metal pipe that so heavy he appears barely lift it - and brought it down on the cub's head as it tried to back away.
Still filming, Alexey is heard shouting 'What are you doing?', but said that he did not confront the men as he feared for his own safety.
The lifeless bear was then dragged along the ground by its collar to the boot of the mens' car before the video ends.
It is not known if the cub was put into the car, or if it was dead, but workers say it has not been seen again.
Alexey explained he had released the video in the hope of identifying the men.
He said: 'The sickening moment was filmed when both cubs came out to eat, and one of the oil workers decided to film them eating, not expecting this drunk scumbag to do what he has done.
'Perhaps a maximum punishment he will get will be a fine for being violent towards animals.'
His hope of finding the culprits worked and the Khanty-Mansiysk Nature Protection Watchdog revealed the pair, one a Ukrainian citizen, had been quickly identified and had pleaded guilty.
Alexey added: 'They said they had let the cub go and it got better but no one ever saw it again after that incident and now only one bear gets out to eat.'
Yugra Police Office confirmed that a criminal case on animal cruelty has been opened against Igor Nikitenko, a 28-year-old from Langepas and currently living in Sibirsky village, and 25-year-old Ukrainian Yuri Rysakov, who has lived in Yugra since March 2013.
A spokesperson added: 'Nikitenko came to the police and wrote a confession.'
This guy gets knocked out cold by a Drunk Attacker! Subscribe Now this
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