A necropsy conducted on a 300-pound black bear found circling the body of a Rutgers student who went hiking in a New Jersey nature preserve last month found that the animal did not have rabies, according to an official report released Tuesday.
Test results released by the state Department of Environmental Protection revealed human blood was found on the bear's front paws, and bits of human tissue, hair and clothing were found in its stomach, according to the report from the DEP's Division of Fish and Wildlife.
Darsh Patel, 22, had gone hiking in the Apshawa Preserve with four friends on Sept. 21 when they encountered the bear, according to authorities. The group ran in different directions and noticed Patel was missing when they regrouped.
Recordings of the 911 calls after the bear attack captured Patel's friends' panic.
"Hey, hello, I'm on Macopin Road, it's 81 Macopin Rd., I believe I'm in West Milford or somewhere around there," said a friend in the first 911 call. "We were hiking and we saw a bear, and we all started running and it started chasing us."
"Two of us are OK, one other person (unintelligible), but two are really close, and I'm scared out of my mind for them. I want to go back, but I'm hurt and I don't know what to do," the caller said.
West Milford police and other officers responded, and found Patel's body a short time after they arrived. Officials said Patel had bite and claw marks on his body that indicated he'd been attacked by the bear.
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An incident report filed by DEP officers also revealed that Patel's pants, phone and socks were found near his body, stuck to the briars. The cellphone had a puncture mark on the front screen.
The bear would not leave the area, even after officers tried to scare it away by making loud noises and throwing sticks and stones, and it eventually was killed with two rifle blasts. Authorities said it was 4 years old.
State and local officials have stressed that bear attacks are rare even in a region of the state that may have as many as 2,400 bruins in its dense forests. They said the attack was the first fatal bear-human encounter on record in New Jersey.
Kelcey Burguess, a black bear biologist with the department, has said it's possible the bear was looking for food, he said.
The four other hikers who'd gone with Patel told authorities the bear appeared to be following them; they were all carrying granola bars and water. The number of acorns in the woods where the bear was is far lower than it should be at this time of year, Burguess said. The bear was also stalking the body when police arrived, and Burguess said it's common for black bears to guard their food sources.
The Apshawa Preserve is a 576-acre natural area used for hiking and bird watching.
Rutgers said in a statement that Patel was a senior in the School of Arts and Sciences majoring in information technology and informatics. Patel's family has asked for privacy.
