A brown bear that recently injured five people in a Slovak town has been shot dead. The city council decided that the animal had to be put down after its adventure in the city.
LOOK. Images show the stressed brown bear walking through the city, people fleeing in terror:
The bear caused unrest two weeks ago in Liptovsky Mikulas, a town of about 31,500 inhabitants, 200 kilometers north of the Slovak capital Bratislava. The animal had probably crossed a river and got lost when it ended up on the outskirts of the city on Sunday. The bear ran anxiously through the streets and scared passers-by.
Video footage shows people climbing over a fence to avoid a confrontation with the animal. But not everyone managed to escape the rampaging bear. Five passers-by, including a 10-year-old girl, suffered bite and scratch wounds and had to be taken to hospital for treatment. One person even almost lost an eye. The bear was eventually chased into the forest. A state of alert was declared in the region. Police officers started active patrols to prevent another bear attack.
The city council later decided that the animal had to be tracked down and shot. But first the bear had to be found. A large police unit, together with hunters and employees of the nature conservation service, combed a large forest. They used surveillance cameras and drones, among other things, to track the bear and determine if it was the right bear.
The animal was finally found on Tuesday, after ten days of searching. The brown bear, which turned out to be not much older than 3 years old, was then shot dead in the forest.
The Slovak government now wants legislation that will make it possible to control the bear population in the country. Slovakia is home to 1,100 to 1,200 wild bears. They normally avoid contact with people, but unexpected encounters may cause them to attack. Local communities and hunters have been calling for some time to reduce the bear population by culling some of it.
After deadly attack, Italy plans to shoot 24 bears
Dangerous bear shot with “excessive self-confidence” in Alps
This content contains cookies from social media or other external platforms. Because you have disabled these cookies, this content remains hidden. Accept cookies from social media to still display the content.
Free unlimited access to Showbytes? Which can!
Log in or create an account and never miss anything from the stars.
Yes, I want free unlimited access
Tags: Rampant bear injured people Slovakia city tracked shot
