Stockholm - A young girl was bitten by a beaver in northern Sweden but was not seriously hurt, news reports said Monday.

"It was a stupid beaver," Matilda Jansson, soon 4 years old, was quoted as telling the Ostersunds-Posten newspaper about the recent encounter near As, about 580 kilometres north-west of Stockholm.

Her mother had spotted the beaver in a ditch some 500 metres from their home and phoned the family about her sighting as she was heading off for work.

Matilda, her father and younger brother went to see the animal and soon found it walking along the roadside. The father, Marcus Jansson, began filming it from 10 metres away.

He said he became distracted by a problem with his camera, and when he looked up again, "Matilda had rushed off and was just a metre from the beaver. The animal immediately went to attack."

Matilda was bitten in the arm and leg, but the injuries were not serious. When the father ran to her help, the beaver also tried to attack him.

Asked what she would do next time she encountered a beaver, Matilda said she would "pull out her sword" for protection. (dpa)