Bear Atack Apshawa

[+Harry Dolphin]

WEST MILFORD — The black bear thought to have killed a 22-year-old Edison man who had gone hiking with friends on Sunday had no documented history of aggression, authorities said Monday.

If a necropsy proves that the bear attack caused the hiker's death, the mauling of Darsh Patel in West Milford's Apshawa Preserve represents the first fatal bear attack recorded in New Jersey in at least 150 years, officials said at a press conference Monday afternoon.

“This is the first fatal attack in recent history. There may have been some attack in the 1900s that’s rumor or legend but nothing recorded,” Department of Environmental Protection spokesman Larry Ragonese said.

The only other fatal bear attack in New Jersey occurred in 1852, according to the New Jersey Fish and Game Council’s Comprehensive Black Bear Management Policy, published in July 2010. The council did not state where in the state the attack occurred.

According to Ragonese, the 299-pound male black bear was approximately 4 years old and had never been tagged by the DEP, meaning there was no documented history of the animal's behavior with humans.

Patel was part of a group of five Edison men who went hiking in the heavily wooded area Sunday afternoon, according to West Milford Police Chief Timothy C. Storbeck. The party, said to be inexperienced hikers, began to split into different directions when a black bear began following them. Four of the five were able to find one another but were not able to locate Patel. They called police.

At 5:54 p.m., police officers and search and rescue personnel found Patel's body, Storbeck said. He sustained bite and claw wounds. Police officers found the bear approximately 30 yards from the body and euthanized the animal, Storbeck told reporters.

Officials explain details of West Milford bear attack

West Milford Officials and representatives from the NJ Department of Environmantal Protection called a press conference to discuss the fatal bear attack. 22 year old Darsh Patel of Edison was found dead at the Apshawa Preserve in West Milford following an encounter with a 299 pound black bear. Patel was among a group of five Edison men hiking in the area.

Officials said it appeared that the bear was guarding the body and may have considered Patel a food source. All five of the hikers were carrying granola bars and water, officials said.

The West Milford Search and Rescue team clapped to scare the 299-pound male away, but it kept circling, Storbeck said. Finally, a West Milford Police Officer shot the bear twice with a shotgun, killing it.

Patel was a senior at Rutgers University studying information technology and informatics, Richard L. Edwards, chancellor at the school, said.

“Our thoughts and prayers go out to his family and loved ones and to all his friends and fellow students at Rutgers,” Edwards said.

Bears are a common sight in West Milford. It seems like everyone has a story about a run-in. Storbeck said police receive about half-a-dozen calls about bears each week.

Often, they simply run off. Brett Hanson, who works near the preserve and lives in West Milford, said she often saw bears rooting through her trash.

Mike Ryan, a West Milford resident, said this bear visited his neighborhood on Northwood Drive, Sept. 20, 2014.

“My husband thinks nothing of walking and yelling out the door and scaring them,” she said.

But Mike Ryan, who lives on Northwood Drive, near the entrance to Apshawa, said a black bear had come through the neighborhood three times in the last week. The third time was Saturday. Ryan said the bear saw him first, while he was on his way to a neighbor’s house.

“I just stopped and looked at it and he was looking at me, so I turned around and slowly walked back,” he said.

The dead bear was sent to a Department of Environmental Protection lab for a necropsy, Ragonese said. This will ensure it was involved in the attack and potential causes, he said.

Test results are expected back later this week.

 

First death by bear attack in New Jersey since 1852. Why do I think there is more to this story than is being told? I've met thirty or forty bear in my time. Mostly they just sit and stare, or run away. Doing trail maintenance on Terrace Pond North once. Went around a bend. Baby Bear 1 went leaping off to the north. Baby Bear 2 leapt off to the west. Mama Bear saw her cubs were safe, and went off to the north to find them. Yes. They scared me.

There is definitely something missing from this story.

[4wheelin_fool]

A few years ago I had a bear follow me near Edison's old plant. It didn't seem threatening, but it did frighten me a bit. I suppose if the victim smelled of spicy food and it was secreting out his skin, or was carrying some minty gum it may have attracted it. Running would only trigger it to chase you, as they recommend a fast walk, I believe.

 

I also just discovered from the associated news from this incident, is that bear spray is illegal in NJ. The 2oz canister I bought in NC is too big, and I'm apparently Ive been guilty of a disorderly persons offense. Only tiny 3/4 oz canisters are allowed, and that's not even enough to annoy a bear. Perhaps I'll have to get some wasp spray.

[+cerberus1]

We always walked out and chased the bears (if noticed in time) before they nail all our bird feeders.

This year, when we walk out yelling and waving a stick, they've walked a few feet, stopped and turned around, facing us.

Just last week, one grabbed a suet cage and just strolled away as I was walking over, yelling and waving a baseball bat.

Usually they drop 'em and hightail it out. This one kept his prize.

Seems they're losing that fear of us. Not a good thing.

Our blueberries weren't so hot this Summer and the mast crop is the worst we've seen in a few years, so maybe their hunger overides any fear they had. I Dunno.

Kinda spooky.

[+dbrierley]

The American Bear Association has tips on black bear encounters at:

 

www.americanbear.org/awareness/camping-hiking.html

[+Panther&Pine]

I agree it seems odd.

We've got black bears here, while people have been mauled (note to self don't sleep near trash bins even if homeless) and one guy on a bike was hit BY a bear. I've never heard of this kind of thing from black bears, holes poked and bleeding to death sure... But randomly mauling a guy in a large group?

 

Edit for spelling

Edited September 24, 2014 by Panther&Pine

[+Roman!]

I paraglide and one day we went up for a flight very early and I was the first to launch. Since it was early there was no wind so it would take longer to launch. Where you start running is a gentle slope that over about 75 yards gets steeper and steeper until it drops off right where a hangluder launch is.

 

From the starting position you an see mabe 40 yards.

 

I inflate my glider and start running and at about 30 yards it gets steep enough and I've got enough speed that I start flying and as I do I notice something move.

 

Dead head , maybe 10 yards is a bear sitting on his butt and the movement was his head turning to look at me.

 

I clear him by maybe 10 feet and apart from his head swiveling to follow he does not move one bit.

 

I have some cool eagle and hawk stories too.

 

Maybe the guy started running?

Edited September 24, 2014 by Roman!

[+BBWolf+3Pigs]

Maybe the guy started running?

 

The article I read said the group came across the bear, it didn't move, so they turned arond and walked away from it. It followed, so they stared running, and split up.