A farmer has been killed and partially eaten and a second man left with serious injuries to his face and arms during a horrific sloth bear attack in India.

The farmer is understood to have ventured into a wooded area of his property near the remote village of Madhugiri in Karnataka state on Monday in search of aloe vera when the attack took place.

Identified only as a 45-year-old man named Somanna, the farmer is understood to have come face-to-face with the bear and, fearing for his life, attacked it with a machete. The animal retaliated, mauled Somanna to death and then began eating his remains.

The farmer's cries for help attracted a crowd to the scene who began to throw stones in the hope of scaring the animal away from the village. The bear then charged at the crowd, seriously injuring a second man, before police arrived approximately four hours later and shot the animal dead.

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Victim: The farmer is understood to have ventured into a wooded area of his property near the remote village of Madhugiri in Karnataka state in search of aloe vera when he was killed by the bear

Beast: The sloth bear then charged at the crowd, seriously injuring a second man, before police arrived approximately four hours later and shot the animal dead (pictured)

After it killed Somanna, the 12-year-old sloth bear turned on the crowd who had tried to intervene and savaged a 55-year-old manual worker named Thimmaiah, The Times of India reported.

He was left with multiple lacerations on his face, body and arms - and is now recovering at Victoria Hospital campus in nearby Bengaluru.

The crowd dispersed after the animal charged them and the police were called. The bear was left sitting Somanna's body for four hours before officers arrived and shot the animal dead.

According to witnesses, the animal gnawed at his corpse during those four hours - an act experts described as highly unusual as wild bears tend to run away from the bodies of human victims, not look upon them as food.

Wounded: The second man (pictured) was left with multiple lacerations on his face, body and arms - and is now recovering at Victoria Hospital campus in nearby Bengaluru

Support: The farmer's cries for help attracted a crowd to the scene who began to throw stones in the hope of scaring the animal away from the village

By the time officers killed the bear it had already eaten Somanna's right leg and much of his left thigh. The act suggests the animal may have been close to starving to death before the attack.

This is reinforced by the fact the animal was found so close to the village. It is believed it had strayed from a nearby conservation area where sloth bears are protected from hunting and deforestation.

Experts say there are at least five sloth bear attacks every year in Tumakuru district - the area in which the village of Madhugiri lies.

However this is the first report of an animal actually eating a human victim in Karnataka state.

Injured: The crowd dispersed after the animal charged them and injured a 55-year-old man.. The bear was left sitting Somanna's body for four hours before officers arrived and shot the animal dead

Crowd: Sloth bears are under threat in the Indian subcontinent and they are often eaten for their meat or hunted for their claws, which are considered lucky

'Usually, bears try to push or injure a human in such encounters. In many cases, bears run away. What we saw on Monday was different, local warden TVN Murthy told The Times of India.

'The bear apparently sat next to the dead body for four hours and frequently nibbled at the body. It refused to go away. We're witnessing such an incident for the first time in the state,' he added.

A sloth bear's aggressive disposition, strong jaw and large canine teeth make them a particularly deadly when attacked, either by humans or Bengal tigers, who occasionally see them as food.

However their typical diet is fruit, termites and bees, and physical attacks on humans are unusual.

Sloth bears are under threat in the Indian subcontinent and they are often eaten for their meat or hunted for their claws, which are considered lucky.