Plans by Slovakia’s government to cull 350 brown bears after a man was mauled to death have been criticized by environmental groups.
Slovakia’s environment minister, Tomáš Taraba, announced the plans on Monday in response to a fatal attack at the weekend. A man’s body was found in woods in central Slovakia on Sunday evening with “devastating” injuries consistent with being mauled by a brown bear.
Taraba said that due to the population growth in brown bears, a cull of 350 bears would be implemented, similar to measures introduced in Romania last year.
The announcement was met with consternation by environmental organizations.
“This is just a hysterical reaction [by the government] to the tragedy on Sunday night,” Pavol Žilinčík, a lawyer and policy manager at World Wildlife Foundation (WWF) Slovakia, told TVP World. “The government simplifies things by thinking ‘there are too many bears so let’s kill some’. But the solution should be introducing measures that reduce bear encounters.”
One step, he said, would be to stop hunters using food to attract deer and elk as that can also bring bears close to humans. Other measures are educating people on how to avoid bears and the introduction of bear-proof rubbish bins, which would stop bears coming into towns and villages to find food waste.
In a press statement the WWF also argued that the cull contravened international obligations and would be illegal. The statement also cited a representative of the We Are the Forest conservation organization saying that “blanket and non-targeted shooting of bears is not a solution.”
The Carpathian Brown Bear Project, a Poland-based conservation group, reported last year that following changes in Slovakia’s bear management policy to permit more hunting of “unwanted” or “undesirable” brown bears, the move would affect neighboring bear populations, including in Poland and the Czech Republic.
Taraba said that due to the population growth in brown bears, a cull of 350 bears would be implemented, similar to measures introduced in Romania last year.
The announcement was met with consternation by environmental organizations.
“This is just a hysterical reaction [by the government] to the tragedy on Sunday night,” Pavol Žilinčík, a lawyer and policy manager at World Wildlife Foundation (WWF) Slovakia, told TVP World. “The government simplifies things by thinking ‘there are too many bears so let’s kill some’. But the solution should be introducing measures that reduce bear encounters.”
One step, he said, would be to stop hunters using food to attract deer and elk as that can also bring bears close to humans. Other measures are educating people on how to avoid bears and the introduction of bear-proof rubbish bins, which would stop bears coming into towns and villages to find food waste.
In a press statement the WWF also argued that the cull contravened international obligations and would be illegal. The statement also cited a representative of the We Are the Forest conservation organization saying that “blanket and non-targeted shooting of bears is not a solution.”
The Carpathian Brown Bear Project, a Poland-based conservation group, reported last year that following changes in Slovakia’s bear management policy to permit more hunting of “unwanted” or “undesirable” brown bears, the move would affect neighboring bear populations, including in Poland and the Czech Republic.
The WWF also said that it had been “scientifically proven” that shooting bears fails to reduce the number of bear-human encounters.
Politically too, the cull proved contentious. The opposition Christian Democrats (KDH) described the plans as “excessive” and said the problem needed to be addressed locally with a focus on prevention.
The European brown bear (Ursus arctos arctos) is protected by the EU’s Habitats Directive and the Bern Convention on the Conservation of European Wildlife and Natural Habitats. It was hunted to near extinction in Slovakia, with only a few dozen remaining by the 1930s. In 2020, the brown bear population in the Slovakian Carpathian Mountains was estimated at 2,500–3,000.
A bill proposing the declaration of a state of emergency in order to enable the cull was passed by Slovakia’s parliament on Wednesday.
Politically too, the cull proved contentious. The opposition Christian Democrats (KDH) described the plans as “excessive” and said the problem needed to be addressed locally with a focus on prevention.
The European brown bear (Ursus arctos arctos) is protected by the EU’s Habitats Directive and the Bern Convention on the Conservation of European Wildlife and Natural Habitats. It was hunted to near extinction in Slovakia, with only a few dozen remaining by the 1930s. In 2020, the brown bear population in the Slovakian Carpathian Mountains was estimated at 2,500–3,000.
A bill proposing the declaration of a state of emergency in order to enable the cull was passed by Slovakia’s parliament on Wednesday.
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