Get all your news in one place.
100’s of premium titles.
One app.
Start reading
Evening Standard
Evening Standard
World
Jacob Phillips

Brown bear that injured five people during rampage in Slovakia shot dead

A brown bear who rampaged through a town in Slovakia injuring five people has been shot dead, the country’s environment minister has said.

The animal went viral after running through the streets of Liptovsky Mikulas earlier this month.

A state of emergency was declared across the region, with a 10-year-old girl among those injured.

It was the second attack in Slovakia in three days after a 31-year-old Belarussian woman was found dead following another brown bear sighting nearby.The bear was shot at around 9.50pm on Tuesday after a drone was used to identify him, Slovakian Environment Minister Tomas Taraba posted on Facebook.

(via REUTERS)

The animal was thought to be three years old and weighing around 70kg, according to a local news agency.

One video showed the bear swiping at a man on the pavement while other footage showed it running past a car.

A third clip showed it bounded down a road in the Slovakian town.

The BBC reports that members of Slavakia’s populist, nationalist government said the incident showed the need to loosen EU environmental protections on wildlife that prevent animals like bears and wolves from being hunted.

Slovak National Party MP Rudolf Huliak said: “This is a case where a bear has brutally attacked people. One person almost lost an eye."

Mr Huliak called for "a firm solution to the excessive number of bears".

Slovakia and Romania plan to appeal to EU colleagues to reclassify bears to allow selective culling.

Bears have returned to their natural habitats across the Carpathian mountain range since the fall of communism in 1989 brought in better environmental protections.

Researchers believe Slovakia’s bear population has remained stable at around 1,275.

Sign up to read this article
Read news from 100’s of titles, curated specifically for you.
Already a member? Sign in here
Related Stories
Top stories on inkl right now
One subscription that gives you access to news from hundreds of sites
Already a member? Sign in here
Our Picks
Fourteen days free
Download the app
One app. One membership.
100+ trusted global sources.