A man biking along the Jack River in a rural borough of Alaska was charged and attacked by a brown bear earlier this week, Alaska State Troopers have said. The cyclist told officials the animal was roughly 30 feet away when it began to run at him. He “jumped” off his bicycle and “began yelling at the bear,” which he estimated to weigh around 500 pounds, according to the troopers. Their report noted the man was carrying a gun, but did not fire it. Instead, as the bear got closer, he fell to the ground and covered his head, kicking at the predator.

“The bear made contact and bit the victim’s lower right leg, just below his knee,” the release read. "The bear made one contact and one bite then immediately retreated into the vegetation the same way it approached.” The man made it to a nearby highway and called a friend, who drove him to a medical clinic, where he was treated for “puncture wounds and a laceration.” Joelle Hepler, an official with the state’s Department of Fish and Game, told local media that she thought the bear had been “kind of triggered by the motion of the bike. That turned on its prey drive and he was curious.”