A MOUNTAIN biker heard a grizzly bear’s “teeth grinding my bone” as he bravely fought the ravenous beast off with just a pocket knife.

Colin Dowler, who was positive he “was a goner”, somehow managed to survive after jabbing the bear’s neck until it backed off, bleeding, in woods north of Vancouver.

Still undergoing extensive treatment at Vancouver General Hospital, the Campbell River, British Columbia, man said this week that he was grateful to his dad who recently gave him a “random” present – the small pocketknife – which helped him fend off the 350lb grizzly.

On July 28, Colin was mountain biking and hiking along Mt Doogie Dowler, which was named after his grandad.

Although he had prepared for a possible encounter with a grizzly, his bear repelling pepper spray fell out of his pocket en route.

Cycling towards a logging camp in the area, he spotted the bear about 100 feet away, striding towards him.

Colin told Campbell River Mirror that he was unsure about what to do at first, so decided to “start having a conversation” with the animal, in an attempt to keep it calm.

As the bear walked closer, Colin decided to put his bike between them, while brandishing a hiking pole to deter it.

It was so much pain and weirdness, I could feel the hot blood.

In desperation, he also threw his backpack on to the ground to district the grizzly, but it merely sniffed it and kept coming towards Colin.

After a tug-of-war with the hiking pole, the bear – which wasn’t growling – pushed hard on the bike, swatting at it with a paw.

The grizzly then chomped onto his left thigh and dragged him to the edge of the road, where he started “chewing on my abdomen”.

He told the BBC from his hospital bed: “It was so much pain and weirdness, I could feel the hot blood.”

Colin fruitlessly tried to gouge out his eyes with his thumbs, but this angered the bear, which shook him like a ragdoll, and spun him around.

He said: “I could hear the teeth on my bone” as the animal tried to feast on his leg.

The Canadian then tried to peel the animal’s lips back to prise his teeth off his leg, but the determined grizzly kept on biting into him, including his hand.

HERO CAMP WORKERS

Suffering immense pain by this stage, he yelled and played dead – all to no avail.

Then, remembering his dad’s gift, he plucked the knife from his pocket, and stabbed it through the bear’s thick fur, into his neck, drawing blood.

After the grizzly backed off, with blood dripping from its neck, Colin managed to cut a tourniquet from his shirt sleeve and tied the material onto his wounded leg, to stop him bleeding to death.

Despite his severe injuries, Colin staggered to his bike and pedalled 4.5 miles (7km) towards the logging camp, where he told workers “help, I’ve been mauled by a grizzly bear” before collapsing.

After receiving first aid, an air ambulance took him to hospital, where he continues to receive treatment.

He has praised the camp workers for “saving my life”, saying they were “heroes” because he would have died without their first aid.

The grizzly bear, a four-or-five-year-old male, has since been shot by conservation officers because it was displaying predatory behaviour towards humans.

How dangerous are grizzly bears and how big can they grow?

The grizzly bear (Ursus Arctos) is the largest of the two bears – the other is the black bear – found in British Columbia.

BC's grizzly number around 15,000 animals and this represents about one quarter of the entire North American population of grizzlies.

Adult males measure between 90-110 cm at shoulder height and can weigh upwards of 500kg (over 1,000 pounds).

Grizzly bears have a variety of coat colours, from dark black, to light brown and silvery.

They have eyesight and hearing as good as or better than that of humans.

Major attractants that bring grizzly bears into conflicts with humans include livestock, such as chickens, pigs, sheep, goats and cattle.

Grizzlies, due to their large size, speed and sheer strength are formidable predators.

In North America, between two and five people die in bear attacks every year.

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