A teenage girl in Romania has died after a bear attacked her. The ferocious animal dragged her and threw her 100 meters down a cliff. She was walking with her boyfriend.
The unnamed 19-year-old woman was hiking in the Bucegi Mountains in central Romania, near the city of Brasov, on Tuesday when she was attacked and dragged away by the animal.
According to the victim’s friend, the bear first grabbed the woman’s leg and pulled her off the path. Then it threw her 100 meters down a cliff. Her body was later found there and recovered by emergency services.
To recover the body, rescuers faced a difficult mission as the animal remained nearby, resulting in them having to euthanize the dangerous bear, which remained nearby and was extremely aggressive, authorities said.
The victim’s friend, whose identity has also not been revealed, witnessed the horrific attack but was unharmed.
Pictured: A bear in the mountains of Romania. On Tuesday, a 19-year-old woman was attacked and killed by a bear in Romania
The attack took place on Tuesday in the Bucegi Mountains in central Romania, near the city of Brasov.
Pictured: Dragon’s Ridge in the Bucegi Mountains, where Tuesday’s bear attack took place
Speak with CNN Antena 3President of Salvamont Romania, the country’s mountain rescue service, Sabin Corniou said: ‘According to the information we have, the bear attacked the young woman on the path, dragged her into the vegetation next to the path and somewhere in that vegetation dropped her into a crevice and fell there. The bear came after her.’
“My colleagues fell into the abyss, where the victim unfortunately sustained injuries that are incompatible with life,” he added.
In a conversation with another medium: EuropaFMCornoiu said: ‘This is a situation we have not encountered before. […] We have had situations where animals came, threatened, demanded food, and made their presence felt in order to receive something. But here it seems that we are already talking about a direct attack, and this is not typical for bears. We need to see exactly what influenced it. Maybe the heat, maybe a disease from which the animal suffers. We need to see exactly what changed its behavior so radically that we end up with such events.
According to government figures, there are approximately 8,000 brown bears in the Romanian Carpathians. It is the second largest bear population in Europe after Russia.
The World Animal Foundation said that between 2016 and 2021, 14 people were killed and 158 injured by bear attacks in Romania.
The latest bear attack in Romania comes after a British woman was attacked by a bear while visiting the country. Her injuries were not life-threatening
The Scottish tourist, 72, was driving along a mountain road in Romania when she came across two bears
After deciding she wanted to take a selfie with the bear, she rolled down her car window, but one of the predators had jumped up on its hind legs
The attack comes just months after an elderly British tourist was attacked by a ferocious bear after she rolled down her car window to take a selfie during a visit to Romania.
The 72-year-old Scottish woman was driving along the Transfăgărășan mountain road in Argeş county on April 22 when she came across two bears.
As she stopped to take a photo of the impressive predators, one of the bears jumped up on its hind legs right in front of her vehicle.
The tourist bravely rolled down her window to get a better look at the creature, while holding her phone ready for the photo.
But in a gruesome turn of events, the bear lunged forward and injured her right arm.
Her traveling companion quickly hit the gas pedal as the pair fled the horrific scene, in a desperate attempt to avoid further attacks.
The woman was taken to a nearby hospital after the brutal attack in the Carpathians.
However, her injuries were not life-threatening.
Romanian Environment Minister Mircea Fechet is calling for higher quotas for shooting bears to prevent brutal attacks.