A bear sparked panic after it entered a hotel in a popular mountain resort, scaring guests and staff. The wild animal eventually wandered out without causing harm, local media reported.
The wild bear entered the hotel around midnight on Friday and managed to open one of the doors before continuing upstairs. CCTV footage shows it pulling at another door handle with its teeth and claws before finally giving up, Stirileprotv.ro reported.
Hotel employees immediately sent out an alert to authorities and a police officer and armed gendarme was dispatched to the scene. However, the bear had already left by the time police arrived.
Staff in the hotel in Poina Brasov reportedly said it was the latest in regular encounters with the animals which killed two people in Romania in the past two years.
WWF Romania expert Cristian Remus Papp told the TV station that bears have become accustomed to easily accessible food sources in places where there are humans.
“The bear is an intelligent animal, and once it gets used to food that can be easily obtained around humans, it will continue returning whenever it has the opportunity and feels attracted by a food source. Unfortunately, this is not just about this particular bear, but about several bears that are increasingly entering communities,” Papp said.
Bears have become increasingly bold in recent years over poor management, such as outdoor garbage containers that are not properly secured.
Romania has the largest population of brown bears in the European Union. A preliminary study study by the Ministry of Environment in April 2025 put the number between about 10,400 and 12,800.
Nearly 30 people have been killed by bears in Romania over the past two decades, of which 19 deaths occurred in the last five years, according to the environment ministry.
Bear sightings are not common in mountain areas and the animals have become used to tourists giving them food, despite repeated warnings to avoid any contact with the wild animals.
Last year, an Italian tourist who stopped to photograph a bear was dragged down a ravine and mauled to death.
Sometimes, bears leave their habitat to search for food in nearby mountain towns and farms and wander into people’s homes or kill livestock.
Bear mauls Italian motorcyclist to death in Romanian mountains
