Situation with bears escalates in Slovakia

The Liptovsky Mikulas District Office declared on Saturday a state of emergency in the district in connection with the occurrence of a synanthropic brown bear, announced office head Jakub Haluska on Sunday. This decision came after a tragic incident near the village of Hybe, where a man didn't survive a collision with a bear.

In response to the incident, MP Rudolf Huliak proposed to eliminate about 30 synanthropic bears that regularly stay near human dwellings. According to him, two bears had already been culled, one near the site of the attack.

Meanwhile, Environment Minister Tomas Taraba will submit a proposal to the government that each national park should have its own bear strike team. The first teams will be set up in the High and Low Tatra mountains. According to him, this will increase the response when culling bears in localities where there are many people.

Source: TASR