VIDEO The solution proposed by the Minister of the Environment for fining those who feed the bears on Transfăgărășan

The Minister of the Environment wants a partnership with the Ministry of Internal Affairs (MAI) regarding the continuous video monitoring of some areas at risk, such as Transfăgărășan, so that based on the video evidence, people who feed bears in the wild are automatically fined.

On Thursday, the government approved an emergency ordinance that introduces new rules for shooting bears that enter localities and threaten people's lives, but also large fines ranging from 10,000 lei to 30,000 lei for those who feed bears in the wild, a dangerous and increasingly common practice in some tourist areas.

“On the basis of video evidence, fines should be given automatically”

In the press conference that followed the Government meeting, Diana Buzoianu was asked what guarantees we have that the new fines will be applied by gendarmes or policemen.

“We will really have to monitor the enforcement of the law as well. I will propose to the MAI that we have a partnership so that we can have CCTV monitoring systems in the areas that we know are at higher risk, for example the Transfăgărășan area, so that, based on the video evidence, fines can be automatically given to the respective persons”, declared Diana Buzoianu.

In this regard, the Minister of the Environment said that the necessary resources must be found to install the CCTV video surveillance system in the respective areas, but that from the discussions she had, she believes that “there is a real desire on the part of all Ministries to resolve the Transfăgărășan problem”.

“We know that every year we have this problem, it's not a problem that will go away. If we don't solve it, next year we'll be in exactly the same situation, in 2 years the same. So it's clear that eventually a continuous monitoring solution will have to be found there,” she added.

18 fines in ten years

The increase in fines for feeding free-ranging bears comes after the tragedy this summer, when a motorcyclist was killed by a female bear after he tried to feed her and got too close to her and her cubs. Everything happened in the area of ​​the Posada Hotel, on the Vidraru dam, where several bears sit on the side of the road, and tourists stop to take selfies with the animals, including to feed them.

Current legislation already provides penalties for feeding wild animals, through the Hunting Act. “Complementary feeding of game” attracts a fine between 500 and 1,500 lei.

A similar provision, also for feeding, is included in the Picnic Law, and the fine is between 200 and 400 lei.

Snoop assessed the situation. In a text published in September 2024, the investigation website revealed that, between 2014 and 2024, only 18 fines were issued, totaling 6,900 lei.

The authorities almost always chose the lowest value.

The data collected by Snoop from the county police and gendarmerie inspectorates, the institutions responsible, according to the law, for ascertaining and sanctioning the facts, show that, in reality, this behavior is not sanctioned.

Of the 21 gendarmerie inspectorates, only four issued fines, under both laws, as follows:

• The Argeș Gendarmerie issued, based on the Hunting Law, a fine of 500 lei in 2019 and a written warning in 2020.
• Based on the same law, in 2019, the gendarmes in Prahova issued four fines totaling 2,000 lei, all for feeding bears, and in 2022, a written warning – for feeding a fox.
• The Sibiu Gendarmerie issued four fines on the Picnic Law, in 2020, 2023 and 2024 (two), of 300 lei each, and on the Hunting Law, a fine of 500 lei in 2023 and three written warnings. The Gendarmerie says it does not have data older than five years and therefore did not transmit the fines, if any, before 2019.
• The gendarmes of Vrancea imposed a single fine on the Picnic Law, of 200 lei, while on the Hunting Law, they gave two fines (2,000 lei) and a warning in 2023 and seven warnings this year.
• In Covasna, two fines of 600 lei were given in 2021 and two warnings in 2019 and 2022, on the Picnic Law. The gendarmes here issued fines for feeding wild animals only on the Picnic Act.

The police inspectorates reported either that they did not give any sanctions at all or that they did not have an exact centralization of the two laws. The other gendarmerie inspectorates submitted similar responses, said they did not issue fines at all or did not identify such sanctions in their database.

Nor did the Environmental Protection Commissioners, who can sanction tourists under the Picnic Act.

In a response to Snoop's request, the institution says that it “carries out specific inspection and control actions, at objectives with an environmental impact” and that it is the police and gendarmes who can rather fine those who break the law because they patrol the field and can legitimize people.