.gif)
An Australian man was recovering in hospital Tuesday after a shark took a bite out of his buttocks as he surfed off the country's east coast, officials said.
The 31-year-old was surfing near Port Stephens, about 200 kilometres (124 miles) north of Sydney, when the animal apparently reared up and snapped its jaws at his behind.
The wounded surfer was driven by a fisherman to a nearby ambulance station but he was later air-lifted to a Newcastle hospital for surgery for the serious bite injury.
"He's been bitten on the buttock region and he has quite severe lacerations to that area," paramedic Paul Alexander told national radio.
"Haemorrhage from there has been quite serious (but) he's been stabilised by ambulance paramedics."
A spokeswoman for John Hunter Hospital said the man's injuries were not considered life-threatening and he was in a stable condition.
It is not known what type of shark bit the surfer but attacks by the predatory fish are not unheard of in Australia, where Great Whites are found on all coasts.
In January, an abalone diver had a close encounter with a three-metre shark which closed its mouth over his head and shoulders before he freed himself by clubbing the fish in the eyes and head with a chisel.
A shark also attacked a swimmer at Bondi Beach, leaving him with deep bite marks on his arm before he fought it off by punching it on the nose, reports said on Saturday.
