An eco-activist trying to prove a brown bear had been forced out of its den by loggers was attacked by the animal

A hibernating brown bear attacked an eco-activist in an ironic twist during a deforestation investigation in Poland's Carpathians mountains.

• A German eco-activist traveled to Poland to prove a bear had been forced out of its den by loggers.
• Instead, the activist was mauled by the brown bear in a surprise attack.
• A Polish official said that the incident was an "irony of fate."

An eco-activist who was trying to prove a bear had been forced out of its den by loggers was brutally attacked by the animal, in what a Polish official described as an "irony of fate."

The German protester had traveled to Poland's Carpathian Mountains along with another activist to prove that the den had been abandoned,the British newspaper The Telegraph reported.

But instead, the bear emerged from its den and surprised the pair before chasing them through the woods.

One of the activists stumbled and fell and was mauled by the animal. He was airlifted to hospital in serious condition, The Telegraph said.

A spokesman for the Polish forestry service, Michał Gzowski, shared images of the bear approaching the activist, taken by a camera set up to monitor the lair.

A full-grown male European brown bear can weigh up to 1,000 pounds and stand over eight feet tall.

"Quite an irony of fate — pseudo-ecologists were attacking foresters, mountain rescue and policemen, and now these people are saving their lives," he said.

"Will there be a Darwin Award?" he said, referencing a tongue-in-cheek prize for people who remove themselves from the gene pool, often due to foolish ways.

The Wild Carpathians Initiative, which the activists were part of, said they should not have disturbed the bear preparing for hibernation, per The Telegraph.

Activists have expressed concern about deforestation in the Carpathian mountains and how it might affect the 150-strong Polish bear population.

The Wild Carpathians Initiative spokesperson noted that a bear had previously attacked a forester in the same location, and said the forestry service had failed to prevent further deforestation.

Earlier this year, Greenpeace said it had monitored 40 trucks loaded with timber leaving the region each day on just one road.

Greenpeace environmental policy officer Marek Józefiak said that only 3% of the forest is protected, while the rest is logged or built on, per The Telegraph.