Motorcyclist Takes Photos With Bear and Gets Mauled To Death
A motorcyclist was mauled to death by a bear after taking photos of the animal and posing for a selfie with its cub.
49-year-old tourist Omar Farang Zin was killed by a bear on Thursday while on a motorcycle trip in the central region of Arges, Romania.
The Italian tourist was riding his motorbike along the Carpathian Mountains and stopped to feed the bear so he could take photos of it. However, a female bear attacked him after he reportedly tried to take photos with its three cubs.
The bear dragged Zin’s body into the forest and fatally mauled him, while other motorcyclists at the scene called emergency services.
Romanian authorities later told local media that Zin’s phone contained photos and close-up shots of a bear approaching him.
“He got off the motorcycle and offered the bear food. The Italian tourist’s phone was also found, which contained some pictures before the attack. With the bear approaching… pictures, close-ups,” Armand Chiriloiu, director of the Arges Forestry Directorate tells Observator News.
Just one day earlier, Zin had posted several photos on Facebook of a group of bears by the roadside, including one image showing a large bear very close to him. He also shared a selfie with a bear behind him and filmed a video while riding past a bear standing at the side of the road.
“Here’s the bear!” Zin says in the video posted on Facebook. “How beautiful. It’s coming towards me.”
Emergency crews — including firefighters, police, and forestry officials — later found Zin’s body, which had been dragged into a ravine. Romanian authorities later confirmed that the bear had been put down.
Romania has the largest population of brown bears in the European Union, with conservationists estimating that between 10,000 and 13,000 live in the country’s forests and mountains. Signs in the area, written in both English and Romanian, warn people not to feed or approach wild bears.
Last year, a 72-year-old British tourist was mauled by a brown bear after lowering her car window to take a selfie with the animal during a drive through the Carpathian Mountains in Romania.
Image credits: All photos via Facebook.
