During a three-hour drive along Romania’s scenic Transfagarasan mountain road, at least 20 brown bears emerged from their surrounding forests onto the tarmac and approached drivers who had stopped to feed them, Reuters reports.
Drivers ignored signs along the road that cuts through the Carpathian Mountains, warning that feeding the animals is illegal and could result in hefty fines. The scene along the Transfagarasan road illustrates the growing challenge for Romanian authorities to enforce regulations and ensure that locals and tourists are not attacked by bears while trying to control Europe’s largest bear population.
Romania’s Environment Ministry, based on preliminary results from a multi-year DNA study, estimates that there are 10,000 to 13,000 brown bears in the country. As human settlements expand and climate change transforms and fragments the bears’ natural habitats, encounters between humans and bears are becoming more frequent in mountain communities. The animals are becoming accustomed to traveling to villages and towns to find food. Sometimes the encounters are fatal.
In Romania, bears have mauled nearly 30 people in the past two decades.
For residents of the mountain town of Predeal, bears and the threat they pose are a constant presence. Jean Stangaciu, 59, said the bear comes to his house’s garbage bins almost every evening, adding that he no longer goes out at night.
To prevent further attacks and control the bear population, Romanian lawmakers in April nearly doubled the annual hunting quota for this year and next, setting a limit of 900 bears. The decision drew sharp criticism from environmental experts and advocates. Critics have said it does not address the problem of bears entering urban areas, as hunters will be looking for trophy bears deep in the woods rather than hunting female bears with cubs foraging in cities.
Cristina Lapis, the head of the Libearty Sanctuary, said the hunt will not take place where bears are found on the side of the road. The sanctuary she runs is home to 140 bears that were abandoned or rescued from people who kept them as roadside entertainment.
Environmental activist Ciprian Galusca said existing regulations to keep bears out of cities were not being properly enforced. These include fines for feeding the animals, waste management measures and support for the installation of electric fences.
Read also: Story about bear attack on cyclist in Estonia ends with plot twist