12-year-old keeps calm during close encounter with bear in Italian mountains
A family hike in Italy's Brenta Dolomites took a dramatic turn when a large brown bear appeared close to 12-year-old Alessandro Breda.
But as a nail-biting video from the scene shows, the youngster showed remarkable poise as he slowly retreated.
Alessandro was picking his way down a trail when the bear appeared, and the video filmed by his mother's partner Loris Calliari shows just how close the animal was to him.
Despite the bear rearing up on its hind legs, Alessandro remains calm and continues back towards his family.
Alessandro told Italian broadcaster RAI that he'd recently watched an instructional video about what to do if encountering a bear.
"I learned that if you yell, the bear becomes agitated and becomes much more aggressive," he said.
See what happens in the video above.
