Following a deadly incident where a teenager was fatally attacked, Romania decided to cull hundreds of brown bears.
To curb the increasing bear attacks, the Romanian government has authorized the killing of 481 bears over the next year and a half, the US Sun reported.
Romania, often dubbed the "bear attack capital" of Europe, has struggled with brown bear populations and their interactions with humans for decades. The rising number of fatal bear-human encounters in the region has made this issue increasingly critical.
Historically, this Eastern European nation has recorded a surge in such incidents, with about 26 deaths and 275 injuries caused by bears. The frequent close contact has, in part, resulted from the bears' scavenging habits, as many of them have become known as 'trash-bin bears.'
The tragic death of 19-year-old Diana Cazacu in July catalyzed the recent government decision. A bear attacked her, and authorities found her body in a ravine in the Bucegi mountains near Bucharest, one of many horrifying incidents that highlight the escalating bear-human conflicts in Romania.
Following Diana's death, the Romanian government overturned a 2016 law that had previously banned bear hunting. This policy shift now allows the regulated killing of bears to manage the bear population more effectively and reduce attacks.
Before this policy revision, the public and emergency services responded significantly to bear sightings, which, in 2023 alone, resulted in 7,500 emergency calls.
Christina Lapis, who operates a bear sanctuary in Romania, has taken in around 25 bears that the authorities had otherwise destined for culling. She expressed her distress over the government's ultimatum, stating that she accepted the bears due to "blackmail" by the authorities.
"I accepted to take them because the government blackmailed me, 'You take them or we kill them,' so it was better for them to come to the sanctuary," Lapis explained. She contends that Romania has never properly counted its bear population and criticizes the lack of non-lethal alternatives being considered.
Lapis also pointed out the lack of preventive measures, such as electric fences, improvements in garbage management, or educational programs for local populations on how to coexist with wildlife.
Animal rights organizations, including PETA, have vehemently opposed the decision to cull the bears, labeling it inhumane and a poor solution to the wildlife conflict. Elisa Allen, PETA’s Vice President of Programmes, strongly criticized the culling approach.
"There are always humane methods for addressing perceived wildlife issues that authorities should use instead of violently gunning down animals," Allen stated. She also raised concerns about the welfare of the bears during these culling operations, noting the potential for the bears to be inadequately killed, leading to prolonged suffering.
Allen elaborated on the repercussions of such actions:
Ecological harmony will never be found down the barrel of a gun. If the killing goes ahead, hunters will likely shoot many bears several times before they die, and some may escape only to bleed slowly to death. And when hunters kill mother bears, they leave their orphaned cubs behind to starve.
As Romania proceeds with its plan to cull 481 bears, the debate continues among public authorities, wildlife advocates, and local communities over the most effective and humane ways to handle the country's brown bear population.
The case of Romania reflects a broader global challenge of balancing human-wildlife conflicts with conservation and ethical treatment of animals. The controversy in Romania serves as a significant case study in the ongoing debate about how best to manage large carnivore populations in areas where they pose a risk to human safety.
For now, the future holds a tense intersection of safety concerns, ethical considerations, and environmental impacts that demand not only local but also global attention to ensure that both human and animal populations can coexist peacefully.
