Bears will be able to be shot immediately if they enter localities and threaten people's lives / Severe fines for those who feed them, provided for in the GEO expected today

The government wants to approve on Thursday, October 6, through an emergency ordinance, new immediate intervention measures to prevent and combat bear attacks on people and their goods in the urban areas. In addition, the act provides severe fines ranging from 10,000 lei to 30,000 lei for those who feed bears in the wild.

“The lack of these immediate measures could lead to the worsening of the situation and to new victims or damages,” the project initiated by the Ministry of the Environment states.

The changes proposed in the emergency regime are motivated by the fact that the current provisions, provided in the Emergency Ordinance 81/2021, “are not effective in situations where, to remove the bear from the inner city, the intervention team cannot immediately remove the danger, but is obliged to carry out several actions beforehand, such as driving away, tranquilizing, relocating, etc.”

These actions have often led to the postponement of solving the problem, sometimes culminating in bear attacks on people, resulting in mutilations or loss of life, the explanatory note says.

Attacks and damage, constantly increasing. What's wrong

The Ministry of the Environment claims that despite the measures taken so far, the attacks of some bears on people, their presence in public or private spaces, the production of material damage in households are continuously increasing.

“It is necessary to specify that the preventive measures implemented so far in the inner city, namely the installation of electric fences, the placement of anti-bear containers, the chasing away, as well as the relocation of habitual specimens, have proven ineffective, so it is necessary to regulate a rapid intervention procedure in exceptional situations, with immediate results in reducing human-bear conflicts”, the motivation states.

In certain localities, the Ministry of the Environment mentions, actions to drive away bear specimens were carried out daily, with the bears returning most of the time to their suburbs.

“Regarding the method of tranquilization and relocation, we note that currently the procedure encounters difficulties, there are situations in which the relocation cannot be carried out, since the managers of the hunting funds do not express their agreement to receive bear specimens, on the one hand, and on the other hand, the relocation of accustomed bear specimens represents a relocation of the problems created by them, by no means the removal of the danger”, the explanatory note states.

New rules for shooting or euthanizing bears in towns

The draft law thus introduces new regulations for the extraction by euthanasia or shooting of bears that enter localities.

In this sense, the term “habituated bear” will be introduced into the law – that specimen of the brown bear species which, following repeated and uncontrolled contact with humans and frequent access to anthropogenic sources of food, has a deviant behavior, losing the natural reaction to avoid human presence and generating increased risks for the bodily integrity of people or the integrity of their property.”

In the situation where the presence of a bear is reported in the urban area (except bear cubs under one year old), the intervention will no longer be done gradually, starting with the method of driving away, but shooting or euthanasia can be applied immediately.

Currently, the law stipulates that immediate intervention is done gradually through the following methods: a) banishment by various means; b) tranquilization and relocation and c) extraction by euthanasia or shooting.

“By way of exception, if the brown bear specimen threatens the life or bodily integrity of people, the intervention team immediately proceeds to euthanize or shoot it”, according to a new provision in the draft GEO.

New situations where bears can be shot or euthanized

The extraction of a brown bear specimen by euthanasia or shooting will be possible in several situations, respectively:

• a) if the interventions from the outskirts of the localities through the method of banishment, respectively of pacification and relocation do not give results and the degree of risk changes at a high level, according to the risk assessment procedure
• b) if the brown bear specimen has been reported in the urban areas and is older than one year;
• c) if the safety and security of persons or goods of any kind belonging to them are endangered;
• d) if the safety and security of the members of the intervention team are endangered;
• e) if the bear specimen in question is injured during the intervention action and becomes aggressive and no other solutions are identified according to the provisions of this emergency ordinance;
• f) if the bear specimen in question is caught in an unauthorized trap, has injuries and becomes aggressive and no other solutions are identified according to the provisions of this emergency ordinance;
• g) if the bear in question has injuries incompatible with life.
• h) in the case of habituated bears

Big fines for those who feed bears in the wild

Through the draft normative act, it is proposed to regulate the prohibition of feeding bear specimens in any form and substantial fines are instituted for those who violate these rules.

Thus, feeding bear specimens (Ursus arctos L.) in freedom in any form, except in situations provided for by law, will be punished with fines between 10,000 lei and 30,000 lei.

“It is necessary to discourage the unauthorized feeding of bears and the creation of observatories for tourist purposes in their natural habitats, by regulating severe and immediate contraventional sanctions, because the lack of these immediate measures could lead to the worsening of the situation and to new victims or damage,” the explanatory note states.

Fines may be applied 10 days after the date of publication of the emergency ordinance in the Official Gazette.