A villager survived having his face torn off by a rampaging wild bear in Thailand.

Kao Butsri, 75, was collecting his fish traps from a river when he was mauled by the Asiatic black bear in a forest in Prachinburi province. The wild animal ripped off a huge chunk of his face and left him with his eyeballs dislodged.

Despite his serious injuries, the tough Thai native miraculously managed to stumble out of the woods and onto a nearby road, where he was found by horrified passersby bleeding on the pavement.

Khao Yai National Park staff said they were notified at 4:10 pm. Rescue teams arrived to rush Kao to the Chao Phraya Abhaibhubejhr Hospital.

The locals who found him said they were riding a motorcycle along the Khlong Mai Plong Reservoir when they found the heavily injured man lying on the roadside. He managed to speak in spite of his gruesome wounds to recount how he had tried to fend off the bear before walking out of the forest.

Forestry officers and local authorities arrived at the scene in the evening to install two cages, hoping to trap the beast believed to still be roaming the area.

Village head Somchai Meelak, 56, said Kao may have unknowingly provoked the bear when he ventured too close to its den. He said: 'Many locals grow bamboo and santol trees in this forest. It is next to the Khao Yai National Park, so wild animals come out to forage frequently every year.'

He added that he has warned villagers to stay away from the area.

The Asiatic black bear is a medium-sized arboreal bear native to Asia. It inhabits forests ranging from Iran to Japan and the Himalayas to Southeast Asia.

It is listed as vulnerable on the International Union for Conservation of Nature Red List and in CITES Appendix I due to threats from deforestation and poaching for its body parts, which are used in traditional medicine.

The bear is also classified as a protected species under Thailand's Wildlife Conservation and Protection Act.