Bear Attack Claims Life of One, Leaves Two Injured in Slovakia

In Slovakia, a bear attack has left one person dead and two others injured. The incident occurred in the town of Liptovsky Mikuláš, where a 49-year-old woman sustained a shoulder wound and a 72-year-old man suffered a gash on his hand.

Emergency services responded to the scene, and the police managed to drive the bear out of town.

Videos shared on social media captured the bear running along a road and even lunging at a person on the pavement. This attack follows a tragic incident in the nearby Low Tatra mountains, where a 31-year-old woman fell to her death while trying to escape a brown bear.

She and her male companion encountered the bear during a walk in a densely forested area, prompting them to flee in different directions.

Unfortunately, the woman’s life was lost, and her body was discovered by a rescue dog shortly after her companion alerted authorities. These incidents highlight an increasing trend of human-bear interactions in Slovakia, despite the country not reporting a lethal bear attack for over a century.

Bear Attack Claims Life of One, Leaves Two Injured in Slovakia

Bears have been making a comeback in Central and Eastern Europe, reclaiming their natural habitats in the Carpathian mountain range.

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This resurgence has led the Environment Ministry to consider proposing changes to bear protections, advocating for the loosening of restrictions to allow for easier hunting of bears. The ministry argues that reducing the bear population through hunting could help mitigate the risk of such encounters.

However, researchers dispute claims of a significant increase in the bear population, stating that it remains relatively stable at around 1,275 bears in Slovakia. They caution against hasty decisions to remove bears from the protected species list, emphasizing the importance of considering all factors before implementing measures that could impact wildlife conservation efforts.