70 Bears to Be Killed in Slovenia
The Slovenian Environment Ministry has approved a wild bear kill of 70 animals. The country has between 430 and 480 bears according to one estimate.
Some environmentalists put the number slightly lower. In 2008 the Environment Ministry approved a kill of 75, and in 2007 it was 100. In 2006 it was also 100. That will make 345 wild bears killed in the last four years. The number of cubs born each year is estimated at 60-90.
(Brown bears in Slovenia are a protected species.)
- » See also: Mistaken Identity: Hunters Kill Endangered Pygmy Hippo During Pig Hunt!
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For 2009, 70 out of 430 bears killed will make an annual mortality rate of 16% and 480 bears is 14%. However, it was reported on the site for Radio Free Europe that the international standard for maintaining stability is only 10%, ” According to international norms, 10 percent of the bear population can be hunted annually to maintain a healthy stock.” If that percentage is correct, only 43 or 48 bears should be available for culling. So why were 100 bears approved for killing in 2007 and in 2006, a rate of at least 20 percent?
The number of bears killed due to government quotas is not the whole of the bear mortality rate. Each year 20-40 are killed when they are hit by cars and trains. A 2006 report from the World Wildlife Fund noted a dramatic difference in the number of government approved bear kills from the time that Slovenia joined the European Union. In 2001 a 59 bear kill was authorized, and in 2002 the number was 116. The overall bear population had remained the same, but the kill number was nearly doubled. That year the International Association for Bear Research and Management wrote a letter to the Slovenian government in which they stated, “We are very concerned that the Slovenian Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Food has allowed a harvest that is almost three times the sustainable level based on best available data.”
The man you are quoting is a government official who is pro-bear hunting! Of course he is going to say things like that. Many in the parliament even are hunters! They WANT to kill bears for the excitement. They enjoy it. The old Romanian dictator is said to have shot and killed over 20 bears in one day, for the FUN of it!
“”Our goal is to halve the number of bears over the next five to 10 years,” Mohoric said. ”
And even some hunters are refusing to kill the bears.
“But hunters refused to kill the bears, saying the quota could seriously endanger their survival in Slovenia’s wooded regions. ”
Also even a Slovenian man who was attacked by a bear, in one of the extremely rare cases, said he does NOT want bears to be killed!
“GRUDEN (through translator): I don’t suggest hunters kill bears. I just think we have to make a game reserve for them”.
http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0105/06/wr.09.html
You are also quoting a statement for a government official that is 9 years old!
You don’t happen to be an embarrassed Slovenian who can’t stand to hear the truth, do you?
Yes, I have seen bears in the wild. Which proves nothing.
It appears there aren’t any children facing 1,000 pound bears. (lolz)
You are just trying to scare people by creating a false, imaginary scenario.
There are only about 2 bear attacks per year in Slovenia, and they weren’t children.
“In the past few years Slovenia has registered about two bear attacks on humans per year”
http://www.javno.com/en-world/slovenia-rejects-criticism-of-bear-kill-quota_28047
ok forget the goverment official.. the statemant he made “The situation is so critical that in some villages kids need a bus to take them to school only a kilometre or so away because they run into a bear virtually every day,” was reffering to a village about 10 miles from my home. The fact is that bears were coming out of the wood into human populated areas. and once again i am not against bears, i don’t hate them and i think they are amazing animals. but when it comes to my life or some other human i think there should be no choice. and about endangerig their survival.. lol. there are simpli to many of them.. thats why there is not enough food for them in the woods and they have to look in populated areas. is hunters kill some of them we actualy make them a favor in some way. Slovenian woods are simply not big enough for such large number of bears. (Slovenia is slightly larger than the state of New Jersey with a total area of 20273 sq km (7827 sq mi))
Ok. How about using some cooperation to see if it is possible over the long term to start buying land where the bears are, and moving some of the people to other areas, and using population control for the humans too?
How about using more education of the public so they don’t startle bears, and keep their distance?
New Jersey in 2005 had about 1600 black bears in the wild.
http://www.nj.gov/dep/fgw/bearq&a.htm
So if Slovenia is slightly larger, and has far less bears, why continue killing them at such a rate?
Perhaps New Jersey and Slovenia can cooperate.
Also Scotland is trying to investigate re-introducing bears, so perhaps they can have some of yours.
we already send a couple of bears to france (and spain i think).. peasent killed them i think. about education.. all slovenian heard all of it.. it is all good when you encounter a male bear.. but if u encounter female with cubs u have nothing u can do. almost all attacks happen this way. and about New Jersey. Black bears are a lot smaller.. less dangerous and need smaller habitat. and btw brown bear is protected in slovenia and almost a national icon so we have no intenton to kill to make them extinct. I don’t wish to argue about thist no more. It makes me look lika a blood loving - hunter lover (which i am not) but if this is your reality this is the only solution. i reather see a dead bear than a dead friend. hope u understand
I understand what you are saying.
There must be solutions.
One is to move the bears to other parts of Slovenia or have some of the people move to other parts.
Thanks for your comments.
Maybe someday the Slovenian bears will be relocated to Croatia, if Croatia can handle them.
http://www.adriatica.net/croatia/feature/medvjedi_en.htm
New Jersey has 8 million people and 1500 bears, not Slovenia’s 2 million people and 450 bears.
http://www.mojvideo.com/video-medvedka-napade-lovce-2/51e07a5b3384caa46240 … not in slovenia but just that u see how agressive bears can be. and yes i know it was female with cubs but this encouters happen if there is not enough food for all the bears in the wood. Btw bear has no natural predators so it up to us to keep “accapteble” number of bear population. And like i said before. We already tried to export them to other countries like france and spain… U could all petiton your goverments to take a few.. i am certain slovenians would’t mind
The bear diet is 75% vegetarian. Bears are only aggressive if they have been scared, or are defending their cubs, or territory. Also, bears are only a problem because some humans feed them or leave their garbage out.