Status: 04/21/2023 09:23 am
In Romania, most bears live in the EU. In order to avoid “overpopulation”, the Romanian government now wants to significantly increase the number of animals that can be killed – much to the irritation of animal rights activists.
The Romanian government has proposed killing three times as many bears annually as last year. The reason given is that the aim is to prevent “overpopulation” of protected animal species. Under the Bucharest proposal, up to 426 bears could be killed each year; last year there were 140.
From 2016 to 2021, 14 people died
The Ministry of the Environment estimates that the number of bears living in Romania is 7,500 to 8,000. Trophy hunting for the animals has been banned since 2016, but the killing of so-called “sturgeon bears” is allowed with special permits. From 2016 to 2021, 154 bear attacks in the country have killed 14 people and injured 158 others. Environment Minister Barna Tanczos said earlier this month that “many people have died from bear attacks”. It is “our duty to protect human life”.
“Free Pass for Trophy Hunters”
Criticism of the government’s proposal to increase the hunting quota comes from animal rights activists. Thus, in addition to the “technical specialists”, hunters will soon be able to slaughter the animals. This is a free ticket to the banned trophy hunt. The Romanian section of the environmental group Greenpeace said the measure was a “cynical proposal to replace bear management with commercial hunting”.
Environmental activists are also critical of the fact that people are increasingly taking over the bears’ habitat, for example by clearing large areas of forest in the Carpathian Mountains. Wealthy Romanians build weekend homes in the highest mountains, where the bears have their territory. Another problem is tourists luring animals with food.
Common in Romania, the brown bear is one of the 1200 animal species protected in the European Union. The EU-wide debate on animal welfare has been fueled by the case of a runner killed by a bear in Italy. Several sheep were killed by a bear in Bavaria.