Story behind this incredible photo of truly MASSIVE paw

Researchers trekking through bushland have discovered something most would have happily believed only existed in Hollywood films.

They found a massive grisly bear in an unnamed woodland in North America, and sedated the giant creature for the purpose of tagging it for their records.

While the huge bear was knocked out, one woman lifted its giant paw up for a photo to show off just how huge the animal was.

In the photo, shared to the Nature Site Facebook page, the paw appeared about double the width of the woman’s head.

The caption for the post read: “This bear is alive, it was a tag and release under sedation, but (the photo is) just to give you perspective of a grizzly bear’s paw”.

The animal’s paw appeared somewhat aged, with worn black padding stretching across its five toes and the flat area.

Five long claws also shot out of the paw like giant daggers, the longest appearing at least 20 centimetres in length.

The species is most commonly found in western Canada and Alaska, where its population is believed to be about 30,000 individuals.

In other parts of the United States however, there are fewer than 1000 grizzly bears left, according to the World Wide Fund for Nature.

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