Slovakia calls for culling hundreds of bears

Slovakia approved on Wednesday a plan to allow the killing of 350 bears, as Environment Minister Tomas Taraba said bear attacks on humans are on the rise.

The move comes after the remains of a 59-year-old man were discovered in central Slovakia on Sunday. Authorities later determined he was mauled by a bear.

The brown bear population in Slovakia's forests is estimated to be around 1,300.

A state of emergency has been called in 55 of the country's 72 counties over "undesirable" bear presence, which allows the Environment Ministry to issue permission for the cull of the animals.

In approving the cull, Taraba said on Wednesday that 800 bears was a "sufficient number" for the small European country.

Slovakian news agency TASR cited Taraba as saying that the number of human encounters with bears had increased to 1,900 last year, up from around 650 in 2020. This was used to justify the culling of 144 bears in 2024.

"We can't live in a country where people are afraid of going to forests, where people become food for bears," Prime Minister Robert Fico said. 

Conservationists decry cull, call for prevention

Environmental organizations have criticized the move to kill the bears, saying it violates the country's international obligations.

Slovakia must follow an EU directive that allows culling only of problem bears damaging property or attacking people and only if there is no other solution. 

Slovakian journalists from the Jan Kuciak Investigative Center have said there was cause to believe that in 2024 hunters may have killed bears that had not attacked people, based on a study of 50 cases. 

Conservationists called on the government to instead focus on preventative measures and teaching people how to stay safe in the outdoors. 

"Instead of ineffective solutions, we need to strengthen prevention — education, provision of garbage removal, regulation of baiting of game or informing the public about safe movement in nature," the Aevis Foundation said on Facebook. 

Edited by: Sean Sinico

Correction, 04.04.2025: A previous version of this article graphic stated that there had been 1,900 bear attacks in 2024 rather than bear encounters. This has now been corrected. We apologize for the error.