'We Are Forest' Calls on Politicians Not to Misuse Bear Attacks for Politics

Bratislava, October 7 (TASR) - The 'We Are Forest' initiative called on politicians not to misuse the recent fatal bear attack on a human near the village of Hybe (Zilina region) to their political ends and instead of enabling the mass shooting of bear populations rather devote time to carry out preventive measures and raise public awareness, TASR learnt from Marek Kuchta of the initiative on Monday. The initiative also asks the Environment Ministry leadership not to blame activists and environmentalists for the tragedy. They pointed out that Environment Minister Tomas Taraba (SNS nominee) has had plenty of time to pass systemic measures aimed at preventing dangerous encounters with bears, yet has squandered it. All he has done in his post is scaremongering and facilitating the shooting of bears, insists the initiative. "According to statements by Tomas Taraba, already up to 71 bears have been shot dead in 2024. Therefore, it's necessary to conclude that not even the largest reduction in bear population since 2000 prevented Saturday's (October 10) tragic attack," claimed the environmentalists. The initiative pointed out that it's not possible to eliminate the attacks by animals in wilderness completely, only minimise them by raising awareness about principles of safe conduct in nature. On Saturday, a man didn't survive an encounter with a bear near the village of Hybe. The bear hit one of the man's leg arteries. In response, minister Taraba plans to submit a motion to the government to enable every national park to have its own strike team to shoot bears. mf/mcs