This is the moment a zoo worker defends herself from a POLAR BEAR while armed with just a dustpan and brush.
A deadly blunder saw the huge animal let back into its cage while two people were cleaning it.
CCTV from the zoo in Russia shows how one of the women leaves and the bear suddenly appears and approaches the other, who was alone in the cage.
Calmly, the woman brandishes her broom and eyeballs the bear, not turning her back, nor making sudden panicky movements, even as it prowled around her.
The beast retreats and the second cleaner returns through a doorway trying to distract the wild animal.
The bear tried again to get close several times more but evidently fears the broom.
The first woman managed to edge her way towards the door - walking backwards so she kept facing the bear, all the time clutching her brush and dustpan as her only sword and shield.
“The woman starts walking backwards towards the exit, keeping her eye on the bear's behaviour,” reported TV Zvezda.
“The incident finishes well, with the polar bear staying inside the cage and both women escaping.”
The women are seen exiting the cage safely.
Russian newspapers praised especially the first woman for the “fearless” way she handled an incident that could easily have resulted in serious injury or death.
The media said the incident was at Moscow Zoo.
Zoo officials have not commented nor identified the brave women cleaners.
The name and age of the polar bear are not known.
One comment on the Komsomolskaya Pravda report read: “Such a horror! But what could a bear do against our women with their brooms!”
The incident shows a major security lapse at the zoo with the bear allowed back into the cage before cleaning had been completed.
