Omar Farang Zin, Italian tourist takes selfie with bear cub only to be mauled to death by mother bear less than 24 hours later in Romania. Travel enthusiast had ignored warning signs not to get close to the wild predators or take photos with them.
What could go wrong…? An Italian tourist was mauled to death by a bear in Romania less than one day after sharing a selfie on social media posing with a bear cub.
Omar Farang Zin, 49, was riding on his motorbike along the Carpathian Mountains in the central region of Arges on Thursday when a bear attacked him and dragged his body down a ravine.
Police and emergency services in a joint statement said that tourists had alerted them to the bear attack, and found the man’s lifeless body an hour later in a steep ravine.
🐻Transfăgărășan’da feci şekilde hayatını kaybeden İtalyan vatandaşı Omar Farang Zin (48), saldırgan ayıyı bu sözlerle görüntüye almış: “Ayıya bak! Ne kadar güzel! Bana doğru geliyor!..”#romania #argeş #ayı #italyan #omarzin #trajedi #news #orso #urs #karpatlar #bear… pic.twitter.com/exuHo2tlnv
— Romanya Haber (@romanya_haber) July 4, 2025
Italian tourist had ignored warnings not to stand near wild animals or take photos with them
Just one day prior, the Italian tourist had posted a series of pictures on Facebook of a large bear which stood extremely close to the unwitting tourist.
Omar who hailed from Italy’s Milan, also shared a selfie posing with a bear cub, in which the travel enthusiast can be seen smiling, unaware of the tragedy of events that would claim his life within the next 24 hours.
A separate video taken by Omar shows him riding his motorcycle as he drives past a bear perched on the side of the road.
‘Here’s the bear!’, the tourist is heard saying. ‘How beautiful. It’s coming towards me’.
Romanian authorities later confirmed that the bear had been put down.
‘The injuries were extremely severe. Even though he was wearing a helmet and full protective gear, it wasn’t enough,’ said Ion Sanduloiu, head of the Argeș County Mountain Rescue Service.
Tributes to Omar Farang Zin pour in
According to the the Mirror, Zin had parked his motorbike next to a warning sign that explicitly advised tourists not to feed or approach the bears. The sign, tragically ignored, stood just meters away from where the bear launched its deadly attack.
Omar had been working for Milan Malpensa airport just before his death, according to Italian media.
Dozens of friends took to Facebook in the aftermath to pay tribute to him.
‘Goodbye Omar, I will always remember you with a smile’, one friend wrote.
Another said: ‘Omar was a great man, he didn’t have to go this way’.
One pal described Omar as ‘everyone’s friend because everyone loved you’.
The tourist’s death is the latest bear-related fatality in Romania.
Latest fatal bear attack in Romania
Last year, a similar incident unfolded when a 19-year-old girl was attacked and thrown 330 feet down a cliff by a bear while hiking with her boyfriend in the Bucegi Mountains.
According to Romania’s environment ministry, nearly 30 people have been fatally attacked by bears within the last two decades, with 19 of those deaths taking place in the last five years.
Sightings of bears are common and local media regularly report bear attacks on people and livestock.
Bears are native to around 22 countries across Europe.
Romania has the largest population of the animal outside of European Russia, with reports suggesting there could be as many as 13,000 bears roaming through mountainous regions.
The odds of being attacked by a bear remain relatively low, with statistics from the World Animal Foundation stating that 40 humans get attacked by the predatory animals every year.
Humans interacting with bears in the wildlife
The rise in bear attacks has prompted conversations about how to deal with interactions between humans and bears in the country.
Last year Romanian authorities authorised the cull of 481 bears after noting an increase in distress calls. Wildlife experts, on the other hand, argue that the rise in violent encounters is more a result of human activity, and the resulting shrinking of habitats due to urban expansion and deforestation.
Tourists are also advised to follow local warnings in order to minimise their risk of being attacked.
‘The problem is not too many bears but the fact that we have more and more bears that are accustomed to the presence of humans and associate humans with food availability,’ WWF Romania’s Cristian Papp explained to The Telegraph.
‘Bears are the victim.’ Netizens took to social media to debate in the aftermath of the attack.
Including one commentator who stated, ‘the animals in Disney movies aren’t real. Wild animals aren’t like that.’
