Nature can be terrifying, and it is not until we're out in the wilderness that we truly understand just how little us humans matchup when it comes to the real behemoths of the animal kingdom.
However, this brave 12-year-old boy proved it was brains over brawn when he managed to escape a stalking bear thanks to his ultra-calm response.
The video was recorded by the boy's mom's partner, Loris Calliari, in the Italian mountain range of Brenta Dolomites. But the family hike turned near-fatal when a huge bear started to stalk the young boy, named Alessandro Franzoi.
Calliari later shared the heart-stopping incident to Twitter, and it can be seen below:
[[youtubewidget||https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wD-wEbZbYho]]
But rather than scream and run as fast as humanly possible (which is exactly what I would have done and would have probably resulted in me being bear food), Alessandro keeps his cool.
In the video, the young boy can be seen slowly walking down the hill as he talks to his mother and her partner behind the camera.
He can be heard being told "Come Ale", by his mom's partner, as per La Voce del Trentino. Following the instructions, Alessandro continues walking - as slowly and calmly as possible, as not to provoke the animal.
The bear continues to follow for roughly a minute, and at one point stands on its hind legs, heightening the terror.
Related - These motorists also narrowly avoided a bear attack in Alaska:
[[jwplayerwidget||https://content.jwplatform.com/videos/siqWlu2M-izxriqNH.mp4||siqWlu2M]]
Fortunately, the animal soon loses interest in the family, and turns away to investigate a bush.
Per the Metro, there are between 80 and 90 bears in Trentino - especially in the Brenta area.
Alessandro's uncle, Federico, told local newspaper La Stampa: "We had left home only a little while before. In the mountains there were some other people but it was otherwise silent.
"Alessandro walked a few meters ahead of us in order to collect stuff and at one point we saw him coming out from the woods and being followed by the bear. Obviously we were terrified but he was calm."