West Milford, NJ – A New Jersey hiker killed by a bear in September took a series of photos of the animal with his cellphone before it mauled him to death.
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Police in West Milford have released five photos taken by 22-year-old Darsh Patel before he was killed by the 300-pound black bear while hiking with four friends in the Apshawa Preserve, 45 miles northwest of New York.
The photos show the bear behind a fallen tree in the woods. Investigators say the phone was found with puncture marks from the bear.
The photos were released after NJ.com filed an open records request.
West Milford police and the state Environmental Protection Department said last month that the bear did not seem interested in food and exhibited “stalking type behavior.”
Scary to think that if people are in the woods, they can be killed by a common black bear even when not provoking; he was just taking pictures…In the case here, it was a group of 5 people together? Maybe people who hike should take a gun with them? But tons of people hike and we rarely hear this kind of incident…So just forget about it and stay away from them!
use ur brains and follow safety rules in bear county, u are walking in bears living room
No selfies with bears