Another country will hit hundreds of bears. Environmentalists are protesting

Slovenia authorities allowed over 200 bears to shoot. The decision is to help limit the number of those animals that are increasingly attacking herds of breeding animals. Environmentalists believe that the shot will threaten the bearing population.

At the beginning of the week, the Slovenian Ministry of Natural Resources and Spatial Planning issued a permission to shoot 206 bears. It will take place in the southern areas of the country and can be implemented until July 1, 2026. The reason for issuing this decision is the population of the brown bear, which is constantly growing in Slovenia, whose individuals fight for space not only among themselves, but are increasingly attacking human farms.

Slovakia decided in April.

In the justification, representatives of the ministry stated that in the last five years only on equipment protecting against the attack of large predators grazing on pastures, breeding animals have been spent over 56,500 euros. The ministry also pointed out that in recent years the average amount of compensation paid for damages caused by bears was over 170 thousand. euro per year.

The rulers will also point out that the growing number of bears means that there are more and more conflicts between the individuals of this species fighting for the territory. According to various data, the number of bears in Slovenia is from 695 to 954.

The Ministry's decision met with a sharp reaction of ecological organizations that argue that 206 bears will reduce their population by over 30 percent. Representatives of the Association for Environmental Protection and Nature Alpe Adria Green (AAG) are convinced that Killing such a large number of animals is unfounded. Environmentalists argue that the data on the number of bears presented by the ministry are overstated.

“This is an unjustified, controversial and unbalanced practice, which misleads public opinion and serves interests that have nothing to do with the protection of natural heritage,” AAG members wrote in a special statement.

The growing bear's population is becoming a more and more serious problem also in other European countries. At the beginning of April, 350 pieces of these animals were approved by the government of Slovakia.

Tomasz Dawid Jędruchów (PAP)

TDJ/ MMS/