Tourist who attempted to feed brown bear is mauled to death
Omar Farang Zin, 49, was touring on his motorcycle in the Carpathian Mountains on the famous Transfagarasan Highway on Thursday when he stopped next to a sign that warned tourists not to feed the bears, according to Observator News, Romania's leading news agency, and the BBC.
'He got off his motorcycle and offered the bear food,' Armand Chiriloiu, the director of the Arges Forestry Directorate, told Observator News.
The bear attacked Zin and dragged him down a steep ravine with an elevation drop of 262 feet, the BBC reported. Tourists alerted the police and emergency services.
'Unfortunately, he was already dead when we arrived,' Ion Sanduloiu, head of the Arges County Mountain Rescue Service, told the BBC. 'The injuries were extremely severe. Even though he was wearing a helmet and full protective gear, it wasn't enough.'
The police, emergency services and forestry officials who responded to the scene found themselves in danger of the same bear.
'The bear followed us the whole time,' Dragos Onea of the Arges County Mountain Rescue Service told Observator News. 'She was very agitated. She attacked us a few times too. We also had [hunters] from Silvic. They were pointing their rifles at her the whole time.'
The hunters ultimately killed the aggressive bear, and police patrolled the area to chase tourists away.
The day before the attack, Zin posted a photo album of the bear encounters on his Facebook page.
Romania is home to the largest brown bear population in the European Union with the country's environmental ministry estimating it to be upwards of 12,800 bears, according to the BBC.
Tourists from all over Europe travel to this area specifically to see bears in the wild.
The environment ministry said that nearly 30 people have been killed by bears in Romania over the last 20 years, the Daily Mail reported.
Last July, a 19-year-old girl was killed in a violent bear attack in the Bucegi mountains in central Romania. A few months before that, a 72-year-old tourist from Scotland was mauled by a bear in Arges county after rolling down her car window to take a photo of the animal, according to The Independent.
'A very large population has finally lost its fear of humans,' Ovidiu Ionescu, a forestry expert, told Observator News. 'The natural habitats in Romania can support around 4,000 bears. So we have an overpopulation that leads to all these accidents.'
Selfie photo by Omar Farang Zin.
This article originally appeared on For The Win: Tourist who attempted to feed brown bear is mauled to death
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
21 hours ago
- Yahoo
999 crews attending a 'serious incident' at Richmond Falls
Emergency services are attending a 'serious incident' at Richmond Falls this evening. According to reports on social media, a search is underway for a person in the water, although this has not been confirmed. Police, paramedics and members of North Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service's water rescue team are at the beauty spot. Members of Swaledale Mountain Rescue Team are understood to be at the scene. A police helicopter is also searching the area. North Yorkshire Police have been contacted, but have not yet confirmed the nature of the incident. This is an ongoing story, and we will bring you more updates as they become available.
CBS News
2 days ago
- CBS News
Hiker's body found after bear drags him from trail into forest in Japan, officials say
A hiker attacked by a wild brown bear was found dead in northern Japan on Friday, officials said, a day after the bloody encounter that reportedly saw him dragged into a forest. The hiker in his 20s tried to fight off the large animal but was pulled into the nearby woods with his legs bleeding profusely, local media outlets including the Yomiuri Shimbun newspaper said. The man was attacked while walking a trail on Mount Rausu on the northern island of Hokkaido on Thursday morning, a local police spokesman told AFP. On Friday afternoon, he was found and taken to a hospital where he was officially pronounced dead, according to a Hokkaido government official. Hunters also caught and killed a bear near the trail, an official working for Shari town -- where the mountain is -- told AFP. DNA analysis will be conducted to determine whether the bear was responsible for the victim's death. A wallet containing a card that bore the man's name was found near the scene of the encounter in the northeastern part of Hokkaido, according to media. A torn, bloodied shirt believed to be his was also found Friday, with nearby trees and soil dotted with traces of blood, Kyodo news agency said, quoting police. Among other discovered items were a watch, a hat and what appeared to be tear gas, Kyodo said. The number of brown bears in Hokkaido fell year-on-year in 2023 for the first time since 1991, according to estimates released this month. There were about 11,600 at the end of 2023, down 500 from a year earlier. The Hokkaido government cited unprecedented hunting of brown bears, with a record 1,804 caught in the 12 months to March 2024. Human encounters with bears reached record levels in Japan last year, with 219 people attacked and six deaths in the 12 months to April 2024. Climate change affecting food sources and hibernation times is a key factor, but as Japan's aging population shrinks, humans are leaving rural areas, and that is also leaving room for bears to move in. "Then that area recovered to the forest, so bears have a chance to expand their range," biologist Koji Yamazaki, from Tokyo University of Agriculture, told CBS News' Elizabeth Palmer in 2023. Japan is one of the only places on the planet where a large mammal species has been reclaiming habitat — which is good news for the bears, but if, as biologists suspect, the bear population is growing, the country will have to figure out new ways to protect people, and vital infrastructure like airports, from the animals. Japan's government in February approved a bill allowing hunters to shoot bears in populated areas. In December, a bear that rampaged through a Japanese supermarket for two days was lured out with food coated in honey. Police said the animal was trapped and later killed. In 2023, hunters killed an elusive brown bear nicknamed "Ninja" in Hokkaido after it attacked at least 66 cows, the Associated Press reported. That same year, local Japanese officials and media outlets reported that three bears were euthanized after sneaking into a tatami mat factory in the northern part of the country.
Yahoo
6 days ago
- Yahoo
Met Police officer accused of sexually assaulting a woman while on holiday to appear in court
A Metropolitan Police officer who allegedly sexually assaulted a woman while on holiday in Romania is set to appear in court. PC Hubert Kokoszko was charged with sexual assault on a female on July 16 and immediately suspended from duty. The Met Police said the charge followed a report made to the force about the alleged assault in June last year. Kokoszko is accused of assaulting a woman who was known to him while he was off duty abroad. Following the report, he was interviewed under caution on October 28 2024. He will now appear at Westminster Magistrates' Court on Wednesday to face the charge. The victim is being supported by specialist officers. The Met added that its Directorate of Professional Standards was aware of the case.
