Government to Deploy Soldiers against Brown Bears

Bratislava, April 23 (TASR) - Members of the Slovak Armed Forces will help to monitor the situation with respect to the state of emergency declared in response to the increased presence of brown bears, with the government greenlighting the deployment of up to 50 professional soldiers for this purpose on Wednesday. The measure will remain in effect until October 31. "Soldiers with allocated weapons, equipment and materials will provide support to the Environment Ministry in monitoring the environment, protected species and addressing the emergency situation in accordance with the government resolution dated from April 2," states the approved resolution. On April 2, the government declared a state of emergency in several districts due to the presence of brown bears. It also approved an extraordinary cull of 350 bears, based on a report from State Nature Protection. mf/df