An 81-year-old man was attacked and killed by a brown bear early Thursday while hunting in mountains near the town of Monbetsu, Hokkaido, police said.

Yunosuke Sekiguchi, a Monbetsu resident and steel plate worker, was found by a fellow hunter who shot the bear dead at around 6 a.m. The hunter found Sekiguchi underneath the carcass, police said.

Sekiguchi had sustained severe head injuries, police said. He had gone into the mountains at around 5 a.m. Thursday as part of a group of 11 hunters who set out after hearing reports of a brown bear prowling the area.

Police said the bear was male and about 5 years old. It was about 2.2 meters tall and weighed some 300 kg.

Sekiguchi was the third person to be killed by a bear in Hokkaido this year and the second this week, according to police.