A brown bear that injured five people in a small Slovak town was tracked down and shot more than a week later. As Environment Minister Tomas Taraba announced on Facebook on Wednesday, the animal was killed on Tuesday evening. Drones were also used to find the bear and identify it beyond doubt, TASR news agency reported.
In addition, the ‘Brown Bear Operations Team’, part of the state nature conservation organization SOPSR, had set up a network of surveillance cameras to search for the animal.
Patrols from both the team and the police and hunters had combed the area around the town of Liptovsky Mikulas (old German name: Sankt Nikolaus in der Liptau).
Several passers-by were injured
The bear wandered through the city on March 17, injuring passers-by. Cell phone footage showed the startled animal running stressed between cars through the streets and apparently looking for an escape route. He jumped at adults and children who couldn’t get out of the way in time.
Those attacked, aged between ten and 72, suffered bite wounds and scratches, and one of them almost lost an eye, it was said at the time. Nevertheless, the five injured people were able to go home after a short time in hospital.
Hunters call for more bear shooting
The incident reinforced earlier calls from parts of the population and hunters to regulate the bear population through shooting. According to studies by SOPSR in collaboration with scientists from Charles University in Prague, approximately 1,100 to 1,200 wild bears live in Slovakia.
The animals usually avoid people if they notice them in time. In the event of a surprise encounter or if female bears believe their cubs are threatened, they may also attack.
Source: Krone
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