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Rutgers student dead in apparent bear attack in New Jersey

A talk on how to live with bears had already been scheduled in West Milford, N.J., before a young man was killed in an apparent attack.

By Frances Burns
American Black Bear. (Wikimedia/Greg Hume)
American Black Bear. (Wikimedia/Greg Hume)

WEST MILFORD, N.J., Sept. 22 (UPI) -- A young man hiking with friends in northwestern New Jersey died in what appeared to be an attack by a black bear.

Darsh Patel's body was found in the Apshawa Preserve in West Milford about two hours after he and his hiking companions spotted the bear, West Milford Police Chief Timothy Storbeck said. Storbeck said the group split up and ran in different directions, and when they regrouped the others were unable to find Patel.

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Storbeck said the condition of Patel's body suggested he was killed by a bear. One found nearby was killed.

Patel, 22, and his companions were from Edison in central New Jersey.

Black bears were wiped out in New Jersey, but returned to the state from New York and Pennsylvania and have become increasingly common.

"Bear sightings are not unusual by any stretch in New Jersey," Bob Considine, a spokesman for the state Department of Environmental Protection, said. "They have been seen in all 21 counties, although they're obviously most common in the northwest part of the state."

A talk on black bears and how to live with them had already been scheduled for Monday night at the West Milford town hall.

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"Bear attacks against humans are extremely rare; they are generally gentle creatures that avoid human interaction," Mayor Bettina Bieri said in a statement on Patel's death. "Bears are nevertheless wild animals with an element of unpredictability, as proven in this very unfortunate situation, so taking appropriate precautions is imperative."

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