Farmer who fought off bear in bloody 3-hour battle shows horrific scars across face.

When a bear approached Jube Valanti Adveppache, he had no idea it would be a lengthy fight for survival against one of nature's killers.A brave farmer fought off a giant bear in a horrific three-hour battle that left him covered in blood with huge scars across his face. Jube Valanti Adveppache had been picking mushrooms in one of his fields in southern India when the bear attacked without warning. The 58-year-old later told wildlife officials and police how the animal, which was believed to be a sloth bear or Melursus ursinus, pounced on him without warning and would not let him go. The bear kept breaking off the attack and then starting again, and the recovering man says it was three hours before it seemed convinced it had killed him. After the attack, he moved off into the forests around Haliyal in Karnataka State. Mr Adveppache told officials he staggered nearly three miles, bleeding heavily, to get back to his village. Hospital officials say he has been transferred from an intensive care unit to another hospital to recover. A medic told local media: "He is out of immediate danger."Horrific photos of Mr Adveppache's injuries reveal horrific scars on the man’s head where the bear mauled him.One eye is closed and swollen, a thick scar from the bear's fearsome claws runs down the side of his nose.His face and his head are covered in other cuts and bruises. Despite their shambolic, sometimes comic appearance, sloth bears are seen as highly dangerous in India.contributed by mirror.co.uk