In Balkan ski area: Bear attacks and injures skier. A bear attacked a group of skiers and injured a woman in North Macedonia.
The number of bears in the Šar Planina Mountains has increased recently and investigations are underway to reduce the risk to tourists. In northern Italy, a jogger was killed by a bear in April last year. In neighboring Greece, crops and beehives were damaged, according to farmers' groups. In Macedonia, mild winters have caused bears to shorten or stop hibernating, leading to an increase in the bear population.