The Slovak government has approved the culling of 350 bears following the death of a person killed in a bear attack last week
The number of brown bear attacks in the country has risen this year, and the bear population has grown in recent years, Prime Minister Robert Fico has said. A bear population lives in Slovakia's mountain regions, and by various estimates it numbers between 1000 and 3000 animals.
“We cannot live in a country where people are afraid to go into the forest, becoming prey for bears,” R. Fico said at a press conference.
Slovakia's Ministry of the Environment announced that it plans to follow the example of Romania, which uses quotas and last year more than doubled the number of bears that may be hunted, raising it to 481 bears.
Last year Slovaks hunted 144 bears, an increase compared with the single-figure numbers of previous years. The government was informed of 13 bear attacks on people last year.