A RUSSIAN man claims to have fought off a brown bear by biting off its tongue.

The half-ton predator ambushed and mauled Nikolay Irgit in the mountainous Tuva region in southern Siberia, police said.

The 35-year-old — who was searching for deer and elk antlers to sell on the black market with two friends — said, “When I saw the bear, at first I froze in horror.

“I didn’t have any weapons, not even a knife.

“I began to scream, I thought it would not attack. But the bear charged toward me.

“I managed to punch him in the face, but he pounced and knocked me off my feet.”

A police report details the moment Irgit is said to have turned the tables.

The cops said, “The bear knocked him down and started biting.

“At the moment when the bear clasped his teeth on Irgit’s face, he managed to bite off a part of the bear’s tongue, which is why the bear stopped the attack and fled.

“After coming to his senses a bleeding Irgit called his friends to come and help.”

Irgit’s two pals made a makeshift stretcher and carried their injured friend to the nearest village.

He was then moved to a major hospital in regional capital Kyzyl.

A gruesome picture shows him with his head bandaged and facial wounds.

Doctors said Irgit suffered serious claw and bite wounds to his face, scalp, arms and abdomen.

Despite his injuries, he is expected to fully recover.

The brown bear, which reportedly fled into the forest and has not been found, will be hunted and killed because it attacked a human.

Despite his miraculous escape, Irgit will be fined for illegally searching for antlers without a license.

They are also suspected of starting a fire in a restricted forest zone.

(SD-Agencies)