A UNIVERSITY student was bitten by a small shark on Thursday after catching it barehanded by the tail on Rottnest.

Rottnest Police tweeted about the incident on Thursday night.

The student caught the reef shark with his hands, grabbing it at the tail.

The shark fought back nipping the young man’s arm.

Rottnest Police said the injuries were minor and the shark was returned to the water, describing the student as “not the smartest bear in the woods”.

The incident follows the lucky escape in Denmark on Wednesday when American Lily Kumpe, 37, survived an shark attack when the animal took a chunk out of her board and knocked her into the water as she surfed at the town’s Ocean Beach about 9am.

Uni break student catches shark with bare hands and as a result was bitten on the arm #fb pic.twitter.com/DcOyDJ7Y5S — Rottnest Police (@RottnestPol) June 25, 2015