THE mass killing of hundreds of brown bears is taking place in Europe following two dozen brutal deaths – including the mauling of a teen.
Romania has become known as the bear attack capital after a horror spate of fatal and severe interactions with humans over the last 20 years.
The Eastern European nation makes up a staggering 45 per cent of all attacks on the continent with 26 people killed and another 275 injured, according to Nature.com.
Many of these attacks involve farmers, shepherds or cattle hearders as the brown beasts continue to be pushed closer to civilisation in a desperate hunt for food.
One of the country’s worst ever attacks came in July.
Diana Cazacu, 19, was savagely mauled to death by a young, female bar in Bucharest’s Bucegi mountains.
Her body was discovered by rescue teams at the bottom of a ravine – as the bear stood over her lifeless corpse.
Officials believe Diana tried to run away from the wild animal while hiking but was ruthlessly grabbed, scratched, bitten and then thrown down the mountain.
The bear went on to lunge at the large group of rescuers before one of them shot the beast dead.
The murderous attack prompted the government to rule that up to 481 bears could now be culled across the next 18 months by hunters.
It overturned a law from 2016 that banned bear hunting for good.
Speaking on the controversial change, PETA’s Vice President of Programmes, Elisa Allen, said killing a wild animal for simply existing can’t be justified.
She told The Sun: “There are always humane methods for addressing perceived wildlife issues that should be used instead of violently gunning down animals.
“Ecological harmony will never be found down the barrel of a gun.
“If the killing goes ahead, many bears will likely be shot several times before they die, and some may escape from hunters only to bleed slowly to death.
“And when mother bears are killed, their orphaned cubs are left behind to starve.”
The problem bears have even been given the nickname “trash-bin bears” as they are often seen stalking leftover food left outside people’s homes.
This hunt for dinner can lead to brave yet unfortunate people trying to scare them away – often leading to dangerous consequences.
Other victims often attempt to interact with the ferocious wild animals and falling to a similar grisly fate.
A Brit pensioner was savagely mauled by a bear after she stopped to take photos of a playful pair from her car, earlier this year.
The 72-year-old was driving near Romania’s Carpathian Mountains when she spotted the beasts at the side of the road.
The Scottish holidaymaker lowered her window to take a snap but one of the animals suddenly got onto its hind legs and put its paws into the car.
It then bit down on the unsuspecting woman’s arm – prompting her partner to quickly put their foot on the gas to escape.
The woman was rushed to a hospital in the back of an ambulance.
In 2016, a US tourist was left hospitalised after a brown bear lunged at him in the city of Brasov.
The 20-year-old was pounced on by a 100kg brute and left with a deep wound on his left arm.
Several other tourists have also been viciously attacked by Romanian bears in the last few years.
Andi Bauer, 26, and Brit Lara Booth, 23, were hiking through the mountains when a 6ft female bear savaged Andi’s leg.
He was airlifted to hospital and had emergency surgery after his leg had shattered in three places.
Romania currently has over 8,000 brown bears roaming around the dense forests, according to the environment ministry.
But many officials fear that this number is set to rise drastically in the coming years prompting concern over if the attack rate may also rise.
In 2023, 7,500 emergency calls about bear sightings were recorded – double the number of the last year, according to the Romanian authorities.
Many of these are believed to have been “trash-bin” bears who were swiftly rounded up by cops and either sent to a nearby sanctuary or fatally dealt with.
Christina Lapis runs a bear sanctuary in Romania where she looks after 130 bears from across the globe from Armenia, Ukraine and even a pair from the US.
But the majority come from on her doorstep in the Romanian woodlands.
Top 10 countries with the most brown bear attacks
THESE are the top 10 countries across the world with the highest rate of brown bear attacks on humans, according to nature.com.
- US
- Romania
- Russia
- Slovakia
- Turkey
- Japan
- Sweden
- Iran
- Canada
- Finland
She has been one of the biggest opposing voices to lifting the legislation to allow people to hunt for bears again.
Christina has even taken in 25 brown bears who were due to be shot in order to give them a better life.
The animal lover said she had no choice but to accept the new bears as it was either let them be gunned down or rescue them.
She told The Sun it felt like blackmail: “I accepted to take them because it was a blackmail of the government.
“You take them or we kill them. So, it was better for them to come to the sanctuary.”
“We cannot blame the bears. We as human beings are responsible for the animals.”
She says officials need to focus on creating a long-term solution as simply killing 500 bears will not create peace.
Directing her frustration at the Romanian government she said: “They need to solve it. They’ve never counted a bear but they say there are too many. They don’t even know how many there are.
“They didn’t propose any electric fences, changing the situation of the garbage or try educating the people.
“There are many things to do before beginning to kill them and we must find the best solution to avoid this massacre.”
PETA has also urged Romanian authorities to look into non-lethal methods of solving the bear and human crisis in the country.
They recommended installing secure, safe fences to gate off areas commonly used by brown bears and making it clear that humans shouldn’t go beyond the fences.
