A man in Belarus–which is located between Russia and Poland–has died after a beaver literally bit him to death.

The man, who was on his way to a fishing trip with friends, spotted the large animal on the side of the road as they made their way towards the lake and stopped to have his picture taken with it. But when he picked it up, the beaver attacked and began biting him, eventually slicing open a large artery in his leg. The 60-year old man bled to death before his friends could get help.

“The character of the wound was totally shocking,” said the village doctor Leonty Sulim. “We had never run into anything like this before.”

Beaver attacks are not uncommon in Belarus, though the latest victim is the only person known to have died from one. Locals say the animals are growing exponentially in population–up to 80,000 in Belarus alone–and are fiercely protective of their young, which makes them vicious.

Wildlife experts say they’ve seen a rash of beaver-related incidents involving humans because the animals are moving further away from wooded areas as their numbers grow.

Below is a separate beaver attack, filmed in Russia.