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June 05, 2006
Bears in Europe
One of the stories that has made it quite frequently to the headlines in German Newspapers during the last few weeks is the one about a bear who has crossed the border from Austria into Germany. Genetic analysis of hair samples has revealed that he is "JJ1" alias "Bruno" a bear that was born in the mountains of northern Italy. Bruno has a younger twin brother (JJ2) and the brothers have obviously learnt a trick or two from their mother.
Bruno knows food is easy to come by where people live but that one must not come back to one's kill lest people are waiting there for you with traps and guns. Up to now he has obeyed this advice to the dot. He has killed quite some sheep and cattle but never came back to the site of his kill. He vanished into Austria for a few days but has come back again to Bavaria in southern Germany two days ago.
This time the politicians mean business. Bruno will be tracked down with the help of a pack of Karelian bear hounds under the command of a Finnish specialist. Marksmen will be on standby should something go wrong. The plan is to catch Bruno alive if possible and then put him into an enclosed territory and keep him under observation. If that is not possible he will have to be shot as he is too much of a danger to the public.
I haven't been aware of it before but there seems to be quite a number of bears around in Europe nowadays. Although the last brown bear was shot in Austria more than 160 years ago today about 20 bears have found a new home there. The first bear crossed the border into Austria from Slovenia or Croatia in the beginning of the 1970's. He was given a wife in 1989 with whom he had cubs. They became the first of a project to bring the bears back to the Austrian mountain regions.
The bear population in Slovenia and Croatia is estimated to be more than a thousand animals. Poland also has quite a few bears in various mountain regions and National Parks. The bear population in Sweden and other parts of northern Scandinavia amounts to 1600 to 2800 bears. Bears in Slovakia threaten the existence of beekeepers. About a dozen of the 300 to 600 thought to live in Slovakia have destroyed large numbers of beehives looking for dessert, no doub. Two bear populations consisting of 40-50 and 20 animals respectively live in the Italian mountains. In France bears are still found in the Pyrenees but their number is dwindling and people strongly oppose trying to increase it again.
Apparently the only place where bears can live in peace and freedom are the Kantabrian mountains in Spain. About 90 bears live here in an unaccessible area and their number is increasing.
This seems to me to be the main problem. Parts of Europe are very densely populated and bears need large territories. They are bound to come in contact with humans sooner or later. Once the bear has lost his fear of humans and starts raiding pens and dustbins he's doomed. And also most people in Europe have lost the ability to live with wild animals and treat them with respect. We only know them from zoos with a big safe barrier between us and the animal. Much as I agree that a bear makes an interesting sight on Alpian mountain side, especially for tourists, I have doubts that all these bear-settling-projects are such a good idea after all, at least not in densely populated areas like Central Europe.
Posted by Mausi at June 5, 2006 07:34 AM
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Comments
Visiting Poiana-Brasov in Romania a couple of years ago I was with a party who attended a finction in a traditional restuarant. Our walk back to the hotel after much Palinka and a good feast was made very interesting by the bears who had gathered at the back doors of all the other restuarants for their nightly feast on the restuarants "take-out for bears" served and enjoyed al fresco on the grassy mountain meadow behind the town. I think the bears there are onto a good thing - and they know it.
Posted by: The Gray Monk at June 6, 2006 02:29 PM