“The bear ate Kolyo, now it’s our turn because nobody wants to do anything,” fumed Sasho Kolev, 80, after the recent killing of a man in the remote Bulgarian village of Kutela by a protected brown bear.
“They love bears, these city people, they don’t care about us villagers,” he said, complaining about local authorities and environmentalists who would not allow a cull of the bear population.
Bulgaria is home to between 600 and 800 brown bears, one of the largest populations in Europe, according to environmentalists, while hunting unions put the numbers at about 1,000.
PHOTO: AFP
As a protected species, the brown bear is banned from being hunted unless a special permit is obtained from the authorities. Bulgarian bears are rarely aggressive and would rather run away from people than attack, experts say.
However, the killing in mid-May of Nikola Shikov, a 65-year-old villager who knew his way around the woods, plunged Kutela, perched on the steep slopes of the country’s southern Rhodope mountains, into panic.
Shikov was found dead in the forest just 500m from the tiny community of 400 residents, with multiple fractures and wounds, his face horribly disfigured.
Fears were fueled by two more attacks this week in the region, though neither was fatal — yet. Galina Ivanova, 64, however, was fighting for her life with multiple injures after a bear lunged at her on Wednesday while she was picking mushrooms near the village of Malka Arda, just east of Kutela, regional officials said. They said the bear stripped the skin off the back of her head and clawed at her entire body before Ivanova’s sister managed to scare off the beast by shouting and throwing rocks.
The day before, 56-year-old Boyan Dimitrov had a close call also picking mushrooms near the village of Borovina, in the same region. The Focus news agency, quoting the local mayor, said a bear struck Dimitrov, but the blow sent him rolling down a steep gully, which saved his life.
In Kutela and nearby villages, where people’s livelihood is often limited to logging, raising cows and picking herbs and mushrooms, locals told reporters they were now scared to go into the forest.
“We’re not against bears being a protected species, but they are breeding like crazy and this has to be regulated in some way,” said 36-year-old Biser, a Kutela villager who gave only his first name, but said his mother was once chased by a bear.
The authorities’ greenlight to shoot the bear that attacked Shikov will not solve the problem, he said. And with the further attacks, authorities now question whether the animal that was killed was indeed the “killer” bear.
In Smolyan district, 150 bears roam the forests and regularly attack beehives and livestock, said Elen Minchev, the chief of the regional environment inspection agency.
The killing in Kutela was the first in decades however, he said.
Local authorities and environmentalists say there has been no recent boom in the bear population.
However, they have now joined forces to appease the worried villagers, instructing them on how to avoid accidents, protect their herds and beehives, apply for compensation and even attract tourists.
“Much of the damage can ... be avoided if only people remember to make an effort to protect their livestock in bear-populated regions — keep shepherd dogs, build fences and never leave their herds unattended,” Diana Zlatanova from the Balkani wildlife society said.
Brochures advising how to avoid encounters with bears and what to do in the event of one will also be distributed in high-risk areas over the coming months. A joint project by Balkani and the environment ministry is already distributing free electric fences to beekeepers in Smolyan and the nearby town of Devin.
Vasil Chavdarov from the tiny village of Breze told reporters he was “calmer” now that his beehives were equipped with an electric fence, although he still spoke of the bears with awe.
“I used to sleep here every night for two months, kept a fire and packs of firecrackers to scare the bears away,” said the 78-year-old, who had nine beehives wrecked by bears in four separate attacks over the past years. “I am happy that the bear does not come to do mischief any more.”
“It gives me chills only to mention its name, I cannot imagine meeting it face to face in the forest,” he said.
Meanwhile, local hunters were taking another approach and trying to convince reluctant locals that they could cash in on the bears and boost tourism. Much to the dismay of the locals, the hunters were already advertising pricey observation tours of bears, wild boars, deer and other animals.
However, it will take time to overcome the tension over bears, following the Kutela killing.
“We entertain no illusions that we can defuse the tensions with brochures, especially in regions where people feel threatened,” said Svetlana Alajem, manager of an educational project about bears. “But it is a step in the right direction.”
Four people jailed in the landmark Hong Kong national security trial of "47 democrats" accused of conspiracy to commit subversion were freed today after more than four years behind bars, the second group to be released in a month. Among those freed was long-time political and LGBTQ activist Jimmy Sham (岑子杰), who also led one of Hong Kong’s largest pro-democracy groups, the Civil Human Rights Front, which disbanded in 2021. "Let me spend some time with my family," Sham said after arriving at his home in the Kowloon district of Jordan. "I don’t know how to plan ahead because, to me, it feels
‘A THREAT’: Guyanese President Irfan Ali called on Venezuela to follow international court rulings over the region, whose border Guyana says was ratified back in 1899 Misael Zapara said he would vote in Venezuela’s first elections yesterday for the territory of Essequibo, despite living more than 100km away from the oil-rich Guyana-administered region. Both countries lay claim to Essequibo, which makes up two-thirds of Guyana’s territory and is home to 125,000 of its 800,000 citizens. Guyana has administered the region for decades. The centuries-old dispute has intensified since ExxonMobil discovered massive offshore oil deposits a decade ago, giving Guyana the largest crude oil reserves per capita in the world. Venezuela would elect a governor, eight National Assembly deputies and regional councilors in a newly created constituency for the 160,000
North Korea has detained another official over last week’s failed launch of a warship, which damaged the naval destroyer, state media reported yesterday. Pyongyang announced “a serious accident” at Wednesday last week’s launch ceremony, which crushed sections of the bottom of the new destroyer. North Korean leader Kim Jong-un called the mishap a “criminal act caused by absolute carelessness.” Ri Hyong-son, vice department director of the Munitions Industry Department of the Party Central Committee, was summoned and detained on Sunday, the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) reported. He was “greatly responsible for the occurrence of the serious accident,” it said. Ri is the fourth person
Poland is set to hold a presidential runoff election today between two candidates offering starkly different visions for the country’s future. The winner would succeed Polish President Andrzej Duda, a conservative who is finishing his second and final term. The outcome would determine whether Poland embraces a nationalist populist trajectory or pivots more fully toward liberal, pro-European policies. An exit poll by Ipsos would be released when polls close today at 9pm local time, with a margin of error of plus or minus 2 percentage points. Final results are expected tomorrow. Whoever wins can be expected to either help or hinder the