As of: March 29, 2024, 1:32 p.m
By: Marcus Giebel
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A bear in the city: The animal injures several people on its way through Liptovsky Mikulas. © Facebook/Marika Trnková Bizubová
In Slovakia, a bear appears in the middle of a city and injures several people. After days of hunting, the animal is shot.
Liptovsky Mikulas – For a few days, a Slovak city was in a state of emergency. Because of a bear. The animal apparently got lost in Liptovsky Mikulas and injured five people between the ages of ten and 72 in the city center, the city announced.
Bear attacks people in city: Videos show animal and also attack
Surveillance camera footage shows the animal running across a street and attacking an adult on the sidewalk. The bear can also be seen on private videos from vehicles. He also simply walks past many people, almost seeming to be desperately looking for a way out.
The responsible police of the Zilina region informed that patrols had been sent to monitor the city. They pushed the bear back into the nearby forest. The fire brigade, the Slovak hunting association and bear experts also supported.
Authorities have urged residents to be more vigilant. A certain area is taboo from the afternoon onwards. Because here the bear should be hunted with firearms.
Hunting bears in Slovakia: “Ensure the safety of residents”
The State Nature Conservation SOP SR immediately emphasized that the situation was under control and that security forces were searching for the animal around the clock. The aim was to use camera traps to track him down.
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“Our goal is not to stir up fear among the population, but rather to set up a functioning crisis management system in the event that a situation similar to that in Liptovsky Mikulas repeats itself in other Slovakian municipalities or cities,” emphasized SOP-SR General Director Stefan Kysel: “With everyone involved working together, we can act quickly and effectively to ensure the safety of foothill residents.”
It was only in February that the forestry service, together with the Ministry of the Environment, developed a manual for protective hunting of brown bears in Slovakia. Residents were asked to report bear sightings via emergency numbers.
Bear killed after attacking people: Drone identifies animal in the woods
The animal that entered the city came from the north and moved on to a shopping center after its first attack. It then crossed the River Waag, went under the motorway and disappeared again between two villages. It is probably a male that weighs between 80 and 100 kilograms. The injured were treated on an outpatient basis and were then able to return home.
Almost a week after the incident, Environment Minister Tomas Taraba announced that the bear had been killed. The politician from the Slovak National Party SNS wrote on Facebook that the animal was “successfully shot” on March 26 at 9:50 p.m. A biometric drone was used to identify him beyond doubt. The state of emergency was thus declared over.
Video: How to behave correctly towards bears, wolves and wild boars
After a bear attack: Politicians demand consequences for wild animals
According to a report by the news channel TA3
, the mayor of Liptovsky Mikulas demanded
consequences. “It is high time to do something about the excessive number of bears,” Jan Blchac from the Smer party was quoted as saying by Prime Minister Robert Fico.
Rudolf Huliak (SNS), chairman of the state parliament's committee for agriculture and the environment, complained about a “case in which a bear brutally and predatorily attacked the residents of Liptovsky Mikulas. One person almost lost an eye.”
The State Nature Conservation, the Ministries of Environment and Agriculture and the Slovak Hunting Chamber would work together to combat the spread of the bear population. The aim must be to “give rural areas a safe life back”.
No new law to protect against bear attacks: sightings in the region are not uncommon.
However, the Slovak press agency
TASR
reported that, according to Parliament Speaker Peter Pellegrini from the social democratic HLAS-SD, there will not be a special session for the time being to draft a law to protect against bear attacks. However, the former party friend and deputy of Fico is ready to take this step if there is another incident between humans and bears.
Bear sightings are not uncommon in the region. A hunter shared a short video on Facebook in which an adult bear and three cubs run across a field. In addition, a bear with two cubs is said to have been seen near a monastery.
The brown bear intervention team, which was also used in the case of the animal that was shot, was launched on December 1, 2022 based on the experiences. Its twelve members are divided into three teams and regions. Accordingly, the bears live in the mountainous areas of northern, central and northeastern Slovakia.
A bear attacked a German environmentalist, his companion described the rescue. A hiker fled from a bear and fell to her death. A video captured a bear running through the middle of a garden in Italy. A couple with a dog died in a bear attack - then an emergency team came across the animal. A Bavarian sanctuary gives bears a second life.
(mg)