Bear kills man in central Slovakia; said to be first deadly attack

[Jana]

Bear kills man in central Slovakia; said to be first deadly attack

PRAGUE, June 15 (Reuters) - A 57-year old man was killed by a brown bear in central Slovakia, in what state forestry company Lesy Slovenske Republiky described as the country's first confirmed deadly attack from a wild bear population that has tripled in 20 years.

"An autopsy confirmed today that the man from Liptovska Luzna died from injuries caused by this predator," the forestry company said on Facebook.

Bears are common in Slovak mountains, and their numbers have swollen to estimated 2,760 last year from below 900 two decades ago, said the forestry company, which has argued for legal hunting of bears to manage their population.

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[Onychorhynchus coronatus]

First deadly attack in the country or in Europe ?

I find that claim a bit suspect as I'm sure there have been bear attacks that have been fatal in Europe over the centuries.

* Sorry, read the article and see that it is first registered within country.

 

[Jana]

Slovakia is a country with human density only slight lower than France or Denmark. It is remarkable that it is able to coexist with its brown bears. They get support by majority of locals.

In year 1928 local bear poplation was last 35-40 individuals. Thanks to protection awarded in year 1932, it started to grow till it reached 2760 animals on area of 14200 km2 (bear range within Slovakia) last year. With increase of its presence, conflicts with people grow.

Slovakia has a task force who handles habituated bears who cause too much damage to houses or people. They would be scared away, relocated and euthanised as a last resort. In the past, problem bears would be sent to local zoos. But lack of space, longevity and zero interest of foreign zoos to take any, has made this strategy end.

If any European zoo is interested in rescued brown bears, please contact Zoo Bojnice which still sits at a lot of Carpathian brown bears.

 

[Onychorhynchus coronatus]

Slovakia is a country with human density only slight lower than France or Denmark. It is remarkable that it is able to coexist with its brown bears. They get support by majority of locals.

In year 1928 local bear poplation was last 35-40 individuals. Thanks to protection awarded in year 1932, it started to grow till it reached 2760 animals on area of 14200 km2 (bear range within Slovakia) last year. With increase of its presence, conflicts with people grow.

Slovakia has a task force who handles habituated bears who cause too much damage to houses or people. They would be scared away, relocated and euthanised as a last resort. In the past, problem bears would be sent to local zoos. But lack of space, longevity and zero interest of foreign zoos to take any, has made this strategy end.

If any European zoo is interested in rescued brown bears, please contact Zoo Bojnice which still sits at a lot of Carpathian brown bears.

Thanks for sharing @Jana !

I know absolutely nothing about human-bear conflict in Slovakia so after reading your comment I'm a little better informed about it now.

 

[Jana]

Another problem brown bear mother has been euthanised, her 2 cubs will be sent to Kosice zoo
Article in Slovak

Monitoring showed that the animal went to Žiarská dolina, where it again began to look for food in insufficiently secured garbage. The Tatra bear, who lost her shyness, was killed. Her cubs will go to the zoo

The bear from the Tatras, who had irreversibly lost her shyness, had to be put to sleep and killed. Her two cubs are to be placed in a zoo, the press department of the Ministry of the Environment informed. "The intervention team for the brown bear from the State Nature Conservation had to put to sleep and kill the bear, which, despite enormous efforts by conservationists, irretrievably lost its natural shyness," said conservationists.

"They get used to human odor, associating it with easily obtained food Irreversible state. " They believed that the animal could change its synanthropic habits and stop going to the urban areas of the villages. "Unfortunately, this did not happen, "they added.

They specified that at the beginning of the month the conservationists transported a four-year-old bear with two young cubs from the vicinity of Starý Smokovec to the wild nature of the High Tatras.

Monitoring showed that the animal went to Žiarská dolina, where it again began to look for food in insufficiently secured garbage. "In addition, the animal did not respond to repeated scaring with bear spray and returned to the site regularly. This proved that the degree of synanthropisation in this individual was at an advanced stage and irreversible, "they noted.

An intervention team was formed The intervention team was therefore forced to put the animal to sleep in the presence of a veterinarian and subsequently kill it. "The team subsequently captured one grown-up cub, which will be quarantined in the Bojnice National Zoo and will subsequently be permanently placed in the Košice Zoo. The conservationists will choose the same procedure even after the capture of the second bear cub, "they specified.

The brown bear intervention team was set up to prevent possible conflict situations and damage. The occurrence of bears can be reported on the line 0903 201 879. If citizens notice waste containers in their vicinity that are not properly or sufficiently secured, they can turn to the Green Line on 0800 144 440.

This is at least the fouth bear euthanised since beginning of this year in Slovakia. This time, at least the cubs found a nice spot.

If you have a zoo licence and vacant space for a brown bear or two, contact Bojnice zoo. They have ability and experience to quarantine local unwanted "problem" bears and secure all needed export/vet certificates to send animals legally to foreign zoos.