A man is recovering in hospital after a bizarre attack in which black bear swam across a river, jumped onto a dock then into his boat and mauled him.

The 54-year-old fisherman had just returned to a marina in a tiny coastal community on an island in British Colombia, Canada, on Tuesday evening when the bear attacked him.

He was cleaning salmon in the Port Renfrew marina office on Vancouver Island when the bear, which was estimated to be at least 10 years old and weighing 176 pounds (80kg), climbed onto the pier after swimming across the river.

The man, who has not been named, and another fisherman jumped into their boat, and the bear immediately followed them and jumped in behind them, hungry for their catch.

The men threw the fish in the general vicinity of the bear, but it still attacked one of the fishermen.

His friend and five other people who were nearby tried to pull the bear off, with some using hooked poles, knives and a hammer to stop the bear from attacking the man.

They managed to kill the bear, but not before the man had received cuts to his upper arm and body.

Local conservation officer Gord Hitchcock said: “This is the first major aggressive black bear attack causing that kind of injury on Vancouver Island.”

The dead bear was left in the boat and eventually taken away by conservation officers who planned to do an autopsy, but their initial examinations determined the animal was old and in poor health.

A local fisherman who owns a resort in the town told Canada’s Ottawa Citizen that bears were a problem in the area and he had reported the issue to authorities three weeks ago.

“We had a problem with bears walking down the pier, going down the ramp and sitting in boats looking for food,” he said.

“Our patrons were shooing them out of the boats and taking pictures. It was absolutely bizarre … and totally dangerous.”

Mr Hitchcock said the bear’s behaviour was unusual. “It’s an isolated event for a Vancouver Island bear to act with that sort of behaviour.”

Five people have been killed and 75 injured by black bears in British Colombia since 1986.

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