What started as a fun summer hiking trip with her boyfriend ended in tragedy for 19-year-old Maria Diana from Iasi, Romania, who was mauled to death by a bear. According to the New York Post, the teenager and her boyfriend were in the Bucegi mountains of Romania, when the duo came across the bear, which grabbed Diana's leg and pulled her off a 400-foot ledge.
She didn't survive the combination of the attack and the fall, and rescuers said the bear was still circling her body when they arrived. What's worse is her mother had just warned her about bears prior to the trip.
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'I told her to be careful with the bears,' Diana's mother said.
Diana's mom, Laura Zaharia, told Romanian news outlet Stirile ProTV that her daughter loved to hike and wasn't afraid of coming across a bear. "I always warned her about these dangers and she always told me that I was too paranoid," Zaharia said.
Diana was on the phone with rescuers when she died.
According to Romanian news site Gândul, both Diana and her boyfriend called 112, the Romanian version of 911, when they first saw the bear. Diana was still on the call when the animal attacked, and the dispatcher heard the whole thing. Eventually, the dispatcher stopped hearing her voice and realized she might not have made it.
"She was terrified," the head of the mountain rescue service, Dan Banu, told media, per the New York Post. "She was screaming: 'The bear is getting closer and closer!'"
She ran from the bear, which prompted a chase.
Another Stirile ProTV article reported that her 112 call indicated that the bear attacked after Diana panicked and tried to run. Gândul reported that some specialists think the bear could have thrown her off the cliff to kill her, which is "a behavior common among wild animals," per the outlet.
Per Stirile ProTV, it's believed that she died quickly from internal bleeding due in large part to the high fall.
"I'd rather it be me in her place," Diana's boyfriend said after her death, according to Observator News. He added, "I tried to do everything, I tried to scare the bear. Unfortunately, the accident happened."
Rescuers killed the bear.
The bear was eating Diana's body and acted aggressively when rescuers arrived, so they shot and killed the bear, New York Post reported, citing Gândul. Gândul reported that it was the first bear attack they'd seen on tourists, but that bears might be growing accustomed to seeing humans on the trail.
"Their behavior has developed, they have gained courage, they have realized that people are not a danger and can be a prey, they can attack them," mountain rescue president Sabin Cornoiu told Gândul.
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There are some ways to avoid a bear attack.
The attack on Diana happened very quickly, according to Gândul, and there was little she could have done to avoid it becoming fatal. However, if anyone comes across a bear in the wild, there are some things to try before it takes a fatal turn.
"Retreat slowly, don't run because you can't run faster than the bear, don't run away with him under any circumstances," forester Ciprian Câmpean told Stirile ProTV. Mountain guide Adela Dadu advised that hikers can use bear spray or a whistle or bell to scare the animal away.
The US National Park Service also recommends speaking in a low, calm voice while walking sideways and away to avoid tripping or scaring the bear. Don't run or scream, or the bear is more likely to attack.
But even for frequent hikers like Diana, bears can show up unexpectedly and catch a person off guard. Her tragic death is a reminder that wildlife is just that â wild and unpredictable.
