Brave Russian farmer strangled rampaging wolf to death

A farmer fought and strangled a huge wolf ‘with his bare hands’ after it killed two dogs and attacked his horse.

CCTV footage caught the moment the man, carrying a torch, was attacked and bitten by the wild beast in the east of Russia.

The farmer and the wolf fought in the snow before he grabbed and held the animal by the neck.

The full grainy video is around three minutes long and ends with the unnamed farmer repeatedly striking the predator, but reports say he used no weapons.

‘The farmer had no time to pick up his rifle, and went into a bare handed fight with the animal,’ said one report.

He feared the wolf would attack his cattle, after killing two dogs and attacking a horse, he said.

The wounded man – who posed with the dead wolf – is being tested for rabies after the attack.

Mass animal vaccinations have been carried out in the village of Novotroitskoye, southwest of Birobidzhan, capital of Russia’s Jewish Autonomous Region.

Villagers say that wolf attacks on guard dogs and farm animals are becoming more common after the destruction of forests in the region.

One villager said: ‘The woods are being destroyed and burned down, so wolves are losing their usual prey.

‘This is entirely man’s fault….

‘It’s like the wolves have been left homeless, this is why they are getting out of the woods.’

Regional chief vet Galina Dzyuba said tests were underway to establish if the slain wolf was rabid.

‘Soon we should know the exact reason for the attack,’ she said.

‘Did it happen because the wolf was running short of food or was sick?’