It appears that there is genuine affection between man and beast as they grapple together in the snow.
The man was filmed tussling with the young brown bear in south-western Russia's Republic of North Ossetia and Alania.
But it looks like the bear might have been watching too as the man certainly does not get things all his own way.
The man says that he now regards the bear, which is now one year and seven months old, as part of his family.
"We now keep her at our friends' place but we visit her all of the time."
And he added that, although their wrestling matches were play fights, the bear had given him the odd painful bite.
The man did not reveal his name or address as he is worried about the bear being stolen for a zoo or a circus.