Romania’s parliament has approved the culling of almost 500 bears this year, twice more than last year, in a bid to limit “overpopulation” of the protected species after a savage attack left a 19-year-old dead.
Last week, a female tourist was killed by a bear in an apparently unprovoked attack while she was hiking with her boyfriend in the Carpathian Mountains. The animal mauled the woman, threw her body down a ravine and came after her.
The unusual savageness of the attack shocked many in a country where fatal attacks are relatively rare. It reignited heated debate between animal rights groups and the pro-hunting lobby.
“From the information we have, the bear attacked the young woman on the trail, dragged her into the vegetation next to the trail, and somewhere in this vegetation dropped her into a chasm and fell there. The bear came down after her,” Sabin Corniou, the head of Romania’s mountain rescue services, told CNN’s Antena 3.
The bear was killed after it reportedly tried to attack the rescuers.
Romania is home to one of Europe’s largest brown bear population with 8,000, according to the environment ministry. Only Russia has more.
Bears have killed 26 people and severely injured 274 others over the last 20 years, the ministry said this year.
Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu summoned lawmakers back from their summer recess after the attack to attend an emergency session of parliament.
After adopting legislation to limit the brown bear population, lawmakers held a moment of silence in the 19-year-old hiker’s memory.
The law authorizes the culling of 481 bears in 2024, more than twice last year’s total of 220.
