A Rutgers student who was killed by a bear while hiking in New Jersey snapped photos of the 300-pound beast before it chased him, mauled him — and even gouged the phone the victim used to take his last pics.
Darsh Patel was walking with four friends through the Apshawa Preserve in West Milford in September when the black bear attacked.
The 22-year-old student became the first person to be killed by a bear in New Jersey.
West Milford police Tuesday released six photos taken before the attack, five of them snapped by Patel himself before the bear attacked, according to The Record of Hackensack.
The images show the lumbering male bear approaching a fallen tree about 100 feet away from the group.
The beast appears to get closer in the five photos taken by the Rutgers senior, including this one.
The police report said that the young hikers attracted the bear’s attention by taking the nature shots, according to the The Record.
“They stopped and took photographs of the bear with their cellphones and the bear began walking towards them,” the police report said.
Really you see a bear and you are going to take pictures? What an idiot one picture maybe but do not get the bears attention. Especially this time of year when they are looking to fill up to hibernate.
