A student captured the chilling final image of a black bear before being mauled to death by it just moments later.
Some ten years ago in 2014, Darsh Patel, a 22-year-old Rutgers University student, decided to go hiking with three of his friends in the Apshawa Preserve in West Milford, New Jersey.
The group had planned to go for a relaxing walk as a bit of an unwind from their studies, but the trip soon become an utter nightmare.
While out enjoying their walk, the group noticed a 300-pound black bear was following them. It was Patel who decided to whip out his phone to snap a few pictures of the bear as it approached the group even closer.
“They stopped and took photographs of the bear with their cellphones and the bear began walking towards them,” a police report at the time said.
The group fled the scene into the woods when the bear was just 15ft away from them, with them all running in different directions.
Patel’s friends told the police that they last saw him when he was climbing a rock formation with the bear in close pursuit, the record reported at the time.
The student was mauled to death by the bear (West Milford Police)
Patel apparently yelled at his friends to continue running away from the bear and that was the last they heard of him.
The three friends of Patel managed to regroup uninjured, but they soon realised that Patel was nowhere to be seen and quickly called the police.
After two hours of searching, police found Patel’s body with the bear lingering nearby.
A necropsy later indicated that the bear had ingested human body parts and bits of clothing.
Rutgers University, which Patel attended, confirmed in a statement at the time he was a final year student of information technology.
The university’s chancellor, Richard Edwards, said: “As we grieve over his tragic passing, please know that our thoughts and prayers go out to his family and loved ones, and to all his friends and fellow students at Rutgers.”
Darsh Patel was 22 years old (West Milford Police)
The bear was shot and killed at the scene by police, with officials finding Patel’s phone which embodied a bite mark from the bear’s teeth.
A few weeks after the deadly attack, West Milford police released five photos from Patel’s phone that showed the bear standing just 100ft away from the hikers in the New Jersey woods.
In each progressing photo, the bear appears to get even closer to the hikers before they inevitably run and the picture snapping stops.
Officials said at the time they didn’t believe the group provoked the bear, though they probably should have moved slowly and avoided eye contact with the animal rather than running
Topics: US News, Animals, Education
A student once captured the chilling image of a black bear just moments before being mauled to death by it.
In 2014, Darsh Patel, a 22-year-old Rutgers University student, was hiking with three of his pals in the Apshawa Preserve in West Milford, New Jersey.
In what was suppose to be a relaxing walk to unwind from their studies quickly became a travesty as the group noticed a 300-pound bear was following them.
Patel decided to whip out his phone to snap a few pictures of the bear as it approached the group even closer.
“They stopped and took photographs of the bear with their cellphones and the bear began walking towards them,” a police report at the time said.
The group fled the scene into the woods when the bear was just 15ft away from them, with them all running in different directions.
Patel’s friends told the police that they last saw him when he was climbing a rock formation with the bear in close pursuit, the record reported at the time.
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Patel apparently yelled at his friends to continue running away from the bear and that was the last they heard of him.
The three friends of Patel managed to regroup uninjured but realised that Patel was nowhere to be seen.
They subsequently called the police, who promptly arrived at the scene.
After two hours of searching, police found Patel’s body with the bear lingering nearby.
A necropsy later indicated that the bear had ingested human body parts and bits of clothing.
Rutgers University, which Patel attended, confirmed in a statement at the time he was a final year student of information technology.
The university’s chancellor, Richard Edwards, said: “As we grieve over his tragic passing, please know that our thoughts and prayers go out to his family and loved ones, and to all his friends and fellow students at Rutgers.”
West Milford Police
The bear was shot and killed at the scene by police, with officials finding Patel’s phone which embodied a bite mark from the bear’s teeth.
A few weeks after the deadly attack, West Milford police released five photos from Patel’s phone that showed the bear standing just 100ft away from the hikers in the New Jersey woods.
In each progressing photo, the bear appears to get even closer to the hikers before they inevitably run and the picture snapping stops.
Officials said at the time they didn’t believe the group provoked the bear, though they probably should have moved slowly and avoided eye contact with the animal rather than running.
Featured Image Credit: West Milford Police
Topics: US News, Animals, Education
A woman who was mauled by a grizzly bear calmly called 911 with the animal behind her ‘getting ready to attack’ again.
After hearing her daughter’s dog barking from their property next door in Frederick, Maryland back in 2016, Karen Osborne got her dog Miles and went to investigate.
As the then-63-year-old went round to check what made the noise at around 9pm at night, out of nowhere, a 200lb black bear emerged from the woods.
Karen was completely defenseless and so dropped to the floor and curled up into as small a ball as she could.
Alas, the bear kept coming, ‘bit [her] face’ and ‘threw’ her to the ground, she told Inside Edition.
Despite being mauled by the animal, Karen managed to grab her phone and call 911 for help and the recording of her conversation with an operator is extraordinary given how calm she sounds despite the horror of the incident.
A video posted to YouTube by Inside Edition features a recording of Karen’s call to emergency services.
In the call, Karen says: “I’ve been attacked by a bear. My arms are broken, my leg is broken I think. I’m chewed up on the back of my head.”
Karen was attacked by a black bear. (Jonathan Newton/Getty Images)
Karen was told animal control, police and an ambulance had been dispatched.
She then said: “Please don’t leave me.”
Karen was reassured services were coming ‘as fast as they can’ but when the call handler asked where the bear was now, the situation grew even more tense, with the bear’s growls and murmurs being audible on the recording.
Karen explained: “He’s behind me and he’s snorting and stomping and digging in the ground like he’s getting ready to attack
“I’ve been attacked by this bear. He’s coming back. I’m bleeding and I’m going to die. Please hurry…Oh my God, here he comes.”
According to a GoFundMe later set up to support Karen, the bear attacked her for a whopping 35 minutes – with the beast returning to her ‘four separate times’.
Karen remained remarkably calm while on the phone to 911 with the bear still behind her. (YouTube/ Inside Edition)
When authorities arrived at the scene, the bear was shot dead and its cub was tranquilized.
Miraculously, Karen survived the attack but the bear more than left its mark, breaking her pelvic bone, crushing her lung and leaving her with ‘wounds all over [her] body’.
Wildlife officer Paul Pedido said at the time the bear likely attacked Karen because she accidentally walked in-between it and its cub.
Karen resolved: “I don’t want to tango with any more bears, I think I’ve had enough bears.”
Featured Image Credit: Inside Edition / Smith Collection/Gado/Getty Images
Topics: Animals, Health, US News
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A man has died after a bear he shot fell out of the tree it was in and landed on him.
A father-of-five from Virginia suffered an unimaginable death when a hunting trip went badly wrong, in what sounds like a punchline to a bad joke, but actually happened.
The Virginia Department of Wildlife Resources has shared the results of an investigation in the wake of the man’s death.
Their report suggests that the man’s shocking death happened when he was part of a group of hunters who had chased a bear into a tree.
The man who died has been identified as 58-year-old Lester C. Harvey Jr. of Phenix, Virginia.
Hunter Lester C. Harvey Jr was killed after a bear he was hunting fell on him (Henderson Funeral Home)
According to the report, the group had gather around a tree, looking up at the bear they had chased into it.
The group then decided to step back, and it was at that point the hunters shot the bear, officials claim.
Harvey Jr was reportedly standing some 10 feet from the bottom of the tree.
Despite having retreated away from the tree to what he clearly thought was a safe distance, it wasn’t to be as the bear landed on him after being shot.
In the wake of the bear falling on him, one of Harvey Jr’s fellow hunters attempted to provide first aid until local emergency services arrived.
The group had been hunting a black bear similar to the one pictured here (Getty Stock Images)
Following the incident, the hunter had been described as being in a ‘serious but stable condition’ after being transported to a hospital, however, he died several days later due to the injuries he sustained.
An obituary written about the man described him as a self-employed contractor and avid outdoorsman who ‘was a friend to all and never met a stranger’.
Harvey Jr leaves behind his wife, three sons, two daughters and eight grandchildren.
According to 6news Richmond, an official from the Virginia department of Wildlife Resources said: “The Department is not currently seeking any charges related to this incident.”
A comment left on a Facebook post reportedly belonging to the hunter, one of his sons was with him when the deadly accident happened.
His son wrote: “Dad was doing what he loved most, bear hunting with me and some of his good friends when he was injured.”
“I love you dad,” he added. “We had some great times…I am so thankful for all the memories we made and all you taught me I wouldn’t be the man I am now if it wasn’t for you.”
A daughter of his wrote: “My dad was the hardest worker I know. He was either working or hunting. The ONLY time he missed work was to hunt…I’m broken in ways I didn’t even know I could break. Please pray for us.”
People on social media were less than sympathetic.
“Instant karma,” wrote one.
“Nobody eats bear. This was completely avoidable”, said another.
“Poetic justice,” said one on X, formerly Twitter.
“I no longer understand the idea of shooting animals for fun. That hurts my heart,” added one commenter.
Featured Image Credit: Henderson Funeral Home / Getty Stock Image
Topics: Animal Cruelty, US News, Weird, Animals
Warning: Article contains graphic content
Having spent a huge proportion of his life outdoors, adrenaline junkie Timothy Treadwell considered himself somewhat immune to the dangers of wilderness exploring.
For over a decade, he spent his summers relaxing under the stars in Alaska’s Katmai National Park, exploring the plush green territory primarily occupied by wild bears.
Timothy spent 13 years in the presence of these beautiful beasts, going as far as to talk to and play alongside them regularly, and naming some of his favorites.
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In October 2003, however, after traveling to his most regularly attended camping spot in the northwest state with girlfriend Amie Huguenard, he seemingly became too complacent about the risks of approaching these colossal, carnivorous creatures.
Just hours before he and Amie were due to be collected via seaplane and taken home, one of the bears turned on 46-year-old Timothy.
The animal mauled him to death in front Amie’s eyes, before attacking her, too.
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Willy Fulton, the air taxi pilot scheduled to pick the couple up at their pre-arranged time, landed on the scene but there was no one to be seen.
It wasn’t long until it dawned on Willy what had played out just minutes prior.
He later told press that the ‘meanest looking bear’ seemed to emerge out of nowhere, before ‘sitting atop of a pile of human remains’.
Willy revealed that the 1,000lb animal then began ‘feeding on a human ribcage’.
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The couple’s tent was then discovered, filled with unopened food supplies, despite the fact it had collapsed.
Park rangers attending the scene also found Timothy and Amie’s shoes waiting neatly beside their tents, before something sticking out of a mound of twigs and greenery caught their eye.
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Joe Ellis, one of the rangers, claimed it took him a second to process the fact he was looking at an arm – complete with fingers – poking out of the pile.
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The team also discovered Timothy’s mauled head nearby, which was still connected to a piece of his spine, as well as his right arm, with wrist still attached.
The most startling find was yet to occur, however, after the rangers came across a video camera inside Timothy’s tent, which would later serve as evidence to the grizzly scene that had played out.
The couple had inadvertently recorded their own deaths in the six-minute-long video – which would later feature in the documentary film, Grizzly Man.
The real life recording begins with Timothy calling to Amie – who is still inside her tent – to come outside as the bear began to exhibit some aggressive behavior towards him.
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“Get out here! I’m getting killed out here!” he screams to Amie, who is then heard clambering out of her tent in a panic, quickly instructing Timothy to ‘play dead’.
This technique is initially successful, with the bear appearing to back away – until Amie approaches her boyfriend, that is, after which the animal clamps its jaws around Timothy’s head and attempts to drags him away.
He begs her to ‘hit the bear’, after which she implores him to ‘fight back’ before breaking down into a series of screams.
It is at this point that the recording stops, but investigators into the attack later discovered exactly what the animal had consumed.
After subsequently shooting the 28-year-old bear, they recovered four bin bags filled with human remains.
Discussing the tape, pilot Willy later warned horror fans to ‘never listen to this’, with the recording said to have been placed under lock and key.
