Canadian man found near death after bear attack during canoe trip

Marco Lavoie was found by a Canadian reach and rescue team (Getty Images)

An experienced walker and canoeist has been found only a day or two from starvation in Canada, after a bear attack left him stranded.

Marco Lavoie, 44, had been in the Quebec wilderness for more than three months.

He had planned for the canoe trip near Lake Matagami, in western Quebec, to last two months, setting off on 16 July. But according to CNN, police said a bear attacked his campsite, eating his food and ruining his equipment.

On 21 October, his family became concerned that he had been away so long and called the police. Rescuers searched for eight days, but couldn't find him.

Finally a helicopter search crew spotted Lavoie on Wednesday, but couldn't land safely nearby. Officers hiked in to pick him up and carry him back to their aircraft, a mile away.

When they picked him up, Mr Lavoie was hypothermic, dehydrated and near starvation. According to the Montreal Gazette, he could barely speak and had lost half his body weight.

Police spokesman Ronald McInnis said he would have starved to death if he'd been left there another 48 hours.

Gerald Lemoine, mayor of a small town near Matagami, told the Gazette: "In these parts, there's a subculture of people who go on these long trips into the middle of nowhere, but sometimes we forgot how dangerous it can be."