A brown bear has mauled to death a 41-year-man as he walked through a forest in Russia's Far East, RIA state news agency reported on Monday.

The animal has since been killed, RIA reported, citing the head of the hunting department of the Magadan region, which lies nearly 6,000 kilometres (3,700 miles) east of Moscow.

"A human body with signs of an attack by a wild animal was found on a forest road," RIA cited Elena Slobodanyuk, the head of the hunting department, as saying.

"During the examination of this individual, signs were found that it was a brown bear that attacked the person."

She said the man was on his way back from a fishing trip when his car broke down and he then decided to walk in the forest at night.

The population of the brown bear has been growing in the region, Slobodanyuk said, adding that the bears had killed three people last year.

Since the beginning of spring, which Russia marks at the start of March, gamekeepers have killed more than 100 bears in the Magadan region, RIA reported.