– I’ve never seen that before, said the astonished expert.

An Italian photographer had a bit of a flashback when he saw a huge polar bear approach a guard dog in Churchill, Manitoba, Canada. This guard dog, which is used as a draft dog, showed no fear and retained its position.

Italian Alberto Panizza captured the moment during his visit to Manitoba in Canada earlier this month.

The guard dog growled and bared its teeth at the deadly but curious polar bear. Finally, the white giant backed away from the aggressive dog.

– These are great photos. If you read literature about polar explorers about Nansen and others, you know that these draft dogs are not dear mothers. They are really tough, explains Petter Bøckman, university professor at the Natural History Museum in Nettavisen.

– Know that it has a backup
– Polar bears often confront dogs, and the reason why a “small” dog dares to attack such a larger animal is because they are pack animals. They are used to being in a situation where they know they have support. You have to count on the presence of several dogs nearby. And he also has backup in the form of people, and the dog knows it. The most dangerous animal on the planet is man, Bøckman emphasizes.

– I’ve never seen pictures of this before, but I’ve read about it. We find the equivalent in the literature of polar explorers, he says.

– Not so brave
Bøckman says polar bears are generally not very brave, because they are the main predator in their own system.

– They are not used to meeting animals that stand up to them. A polar bear leads a rather marginal life. It is difficult to obtain enough food in the form of seals. An injury to a polar bear is terribly serious. He must be able to go far to hunt. He has a lot to lose, believes the zoologist.

He says the polar bear in the photo appears well fed and in good physical condition, and apparently isn’t very hungry.

– A polar bear will never take more risks than it should. If he’s not very hungry, he won’t try too hard to get something if there is something in his way.

– I would have run over the dog
-If it was a very hungry polar bear, it probably would have run over the dog.

– Sled dogs are not toy dogs. When you arrive in Ice Norway, you will find working dogs that were bred for completely different reasons than cuddle dogs. He’s not a typical dog, Bøckman explains.

The photographer behind the flash photos says the dog was chained and went into survival mode when the polar bear approached. The photographer claims the dog’s owner, who is a local breeder, claims his animals are “the strongest in the world.”

– The dogs live not far from a town where polar bears like to pass, explains the 39-year-old photographer.

– Pure madness
– This polar bear seemed curious, and even though he was much bigger, he was eager to get to know the dogs, says the photographer.

– Even though they are trained to fight bears, they usually seem scared. But either out of survival instinct or pure madness, they throw themselves at these wild giants, like this one, explains the photographer, according to Express.

This case was first published on 11/20, 2014.