Bear that injured 5 throughout rampage shot useless, Slovakia officers say — however critics say the flawed bear was killed

Slovakia’s authorities on Wednesday mentioned the bear that attacked 5 folks within the nation earlier this month was shot useless, as Bratislava drafted plans to ease bear cull restrictions. However opposition politicians mentioned {that a} a lot smaller bear that had nothing to do with the rampage was really killed. 

The bear assault that left 5 folks, together with a 10-year-old lady, injured occurred within the heart of Liptovsky Mikulas, a city nestled within the foothills of the Tatra mountains close to common ski resorts, the BBC reported.

“A bear that injured 5 in Liptovsky Mikulas was efficiently shot useless yesterday… A biometrics drone was used to determine it,” the surroundings minister Tomas Taraba mentioned on social media on Wednesday.

Bear assaults have been on the rise within the Central European nation, with 20 such incidents final 12 months, up from solely eight in 2021, in keeping with knowledge from the surroundings ministry.

This month, a girl from Belarus died following a separate bear assault within the Demanovska Dolina valley space in Liptovsky Mikulas district, falling to her loss of life from a cliff after being chased by the animal.

On Wednesday, the federal government in Bratislava accepted a draft regulation to handle the bear assaults in city areas.

The proposal stipulates the creation of a 500-metre security zone within the neighborhood of cities and villages.

Any bear getting into this zone may very well be shot, Taraba instructed journalists.

“Not solely members of the particular bear response group will have the ability to shoot, but additionally hunters, law enforcement officials, and, in nationwide parks, additionally their directors,” Taraba mentioned.

The Slovak populist authorities earlier this month revealed tips on the protecting taking pictures of brown bears, prompting backlash from environmental teams and the opposition.

Opposition politicians additionally claimed authorities had shot the flawed bear, accusing the federal government of utilizing the problem forward of the presidential election on 6 April, the BBC reported.

“In line with paperwork written by the bear intervention group that we discovered, a 67-kilogram feminine bear was caught and killed,” Progressive Slovakia opposition celebration member Michal Wiezik mentioned. “It isn’t crucial to make use of high-end biometrics to make it clear that such a taking pictures can’t be in any method associated to the 100-kilogram male they have been in search of.”

“I am sure it is not the identical bear. It is apparent,” Wiezik instructed the BBC.

On Monday, the Slovak surroundings minister, collectively together with his Romanian and Finnish counterparts, appealed to Brussels for an EU-wide answer to the problem of bears threatening folks, in keeping with the native TASR information company.