Student took this photo of a bear just before it killed him | The Woodsman Hut | Forums

I can't even imagine, and people say there's nothing to be afraid of with black bears

A Rutgers student who was killed by a bear while hiking in New Jersey snapped photos of the 300-pound beast before it chased him, mauled him — and even gouged the phone the victim used to take his last pics.

Darsh Patel was walking with four friends through the Apshawa Preserve in West Milford in September when the black bear attacked.

The 22-year-old student became the first person to be killed by a bear in New Jersey.

West Milford police Tuesday released six photos taken before the attack, five of them snapped by Patel himself before the bear attacked, according to The Record of Hackensack.

The images show the lumbering male bear approaching a fallen tree about 100 feet away from the group.

The beast appears to get closer in the five photos taken by the Rutgers senior, including this one.

The police report said that the young hikers attracted the bear’s attention by taking the nature shots, according to The Record.

“They stopped and took photographs of the bear with their cellphones and the bear began walking towards them,” the police report said.

After snapping the shots, the four men tried to walk away, but the bear started to follow them and came within 15 feet of the group.

That’s when they split up and ran away in separate directions, they told police.

Four of them later regrouped, noticed that Patel was missing, and called police.

After a two-hour search, Patel’s body was discovered as the bear lingered near him.

It was shot to death by police officers. A necropsy of the bear revealed it had ingested human tissue and blood, as well as clothing, and had human blood on its paws, The Record said.

Patel’s phone was also found nearby with fang marks on it.

http://nypost.com/20.....ly-attack/