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TRENTON, N.J. (AP) — A bear that attacked and killed a hiker in a nature preserve did not have rabies, state wildlife officials said.
The information on the bear's necropsy was included in documents made public Tuesday night by the Department of Environmental Protection.
Darsh Patel, a 22-year-old Rutgers University student from Edison, was hiking with four friends in the Apshawa Preserve late last month when they noticed the bear following them. The group scattered, and Patel's friends, who were not injured, called police when they realized he was missing.
A search team found Patel's body, which showed signs of a bear attack.
The 302-pound bear, which was about 30 yards from the body and circling, would not leave the area, even after police officers tried to scare it away by making loud noises and throwing sticks and stones. Police eventually killed it with two rifle blasts.
The nature preserve where the attack occurred is about 45 miles northwest of New York City.
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 bears in its dense forests. They said the attack was the first fatal bear-human encounter on record in the state.
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