A Finnish woman has fended off a bear attack by kicking the bear on the nose. 

The young woman was walking in woods near Hankasalmi, in the centre of Finland, when she came face to face with the female brown bear and its cub, Finnish news agency STT reported Monday.

During the attack the bear severely bit the woman's thighs and calves. Fearing for her life, the woman kicked the animal's muzzle, causing it to flee.

"In this case the kick had the desired effect. If the bear had wanted to kill, such a kick would only have made the bear more aggressive," local police spokesman Jukka Turpeinen said.

The woman was in hospital under observation, Turpeinen added. Bear attacks are rare in Finland, where their population has stabilised at around 800 to 850, mostly in the east and north of the country.

A fully grown female brown bear can weigh up to 200 kilos (440 pounds).芬兰日前上演了一场惊险的“人熊大战”。一名芬兰女子通过踢熊鼻子的方法，成功“击退”了一只雌性棕熊的攻击。
   
据法新社5月22日报道，事情发生时，这名年轻的芬兰女子正走在芬兰中部汉卡萨尔米附近的树林里，她和一只带着熊宝宝的母熊不期而遇。这只母熊对她发起了攻击，狠狠咬住她的腿。这名女子担心自己的生命受到威胁，于是开始了反击，她猛踢母熊的鼻子，并最终使母熊落荒而逃。

Notefend off：挡开face to face：面对面cub：幼兽，这里指小熊
calf：小腿，复数calvesmuzzle：动物的鼻口

当地警方发言人尤卡·图尔佩宁说，踢熊鼻子的这种作法得到了人们想要的结果。但如果这只熊真的想要杀戮，这样踢它只会激怒它，让它变得更有攻击性。目前，这名女子还在医院接受观察。

报道说，在芬兰境内很少发生这种熊袭击人的事件。栖息在芬兰的棕熊数量一直较为稳定，保持在800只至850只左右，它们中的大部分生活在芬兰的东部和北部地区。此事件中所涉及的这种雌性棕熊最大可长到200公斤重。