Watch: Boy, 12, stays calm as bear emerges from bush just metres away

This is the moment a 12-year-old boy kept remarkably calm after a bear emerged from bushes just metres away from him.

The encounter happened as Alessandro was hiking with his family above Sporminore in Italy’s northern region of Trentino-Sud Tyrol.

The footage shows him calmly walking away from the brown bear as his mother and partner, off-camera, urge him not to panic.

The bear, which at one point stands on its hind legs as the boy edges down the hill, eventually lost interest.

Most bears do not, under normal circumstances, hunt and feed on humans.

However, some bear attacks have occurred when the animal is defending what it perceives to be a threat to its territory.

There are between 80 and 90 bears in Trentino, especially in the Brenta area.