A man was mauled to death by a wounded bear this week when he foolishly tried to take a photograph alongside the apex predator — the third wild animal-related selfie fatality in this region of India in less than a year, according to reports.
The victim, identified by local media as Prabhu Bhatara, was driving a group of people home from a wedding in an SUV when he stopped to relieve himself in a forest area in the eastern Indian state of Odisha on Wednesday evening, the Hindustan Times reports.
Bhatara then spotted an injured bear and for some reason, decided to take a selfie with the creature, according to the report. When the man approached, the bear’s fight instinct immediately kicked in.
“Bhatara died on the spot,” forest ranger Dhanurjaya Mohapatra told the news outlet.
Horrific video of the incident filmed by a bystander shows the bear attacking Bhatara, as terrified witnesses scream.
A stray dog even attempted to go after the bear by barking at it, but Bhatara could not be saved.
Bhatara’s death is Odisha’s third selfie-related fatality since December. A 50-year-old man was crushed to death by a wild elephant while trying to take a selfie with the animal in December, according to local media. Also that month, a youth was crushed to death while taking a selfie with an elephant. reports said.
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