Woman in critical condition after bear attack
A 59-year-old woman is fighting for her life in hospital after she was attacked by a brown bear at a forest edge in Škofljica, a suburban municipality southeast of the capital Ljubljana, CE Report quotes The Slovenia Times.
The woman was attacked by what the authorities assume was a female bear protecting her cubs while walking her dog in Gradišče, a village about 20 kilometres from the centre of Ljubljana. She is currently at the UKC Ljubljana hospital and remains in critical condition, police said.
The bear retreated to the forest after the attack and police have advised residents to avoid going into the forest and exercise utmost caution if they do.
About an hour earlier in the same area, another local was attacked and lightly injured by a she bear, the police revealed later. He managed to escape because the bear retreated. Media reports suggest it was presumably the same bear that injured the woman.
The Škofljica municipality will organise public transport for residents who use forest paths, to make sure they do not get into contact with bears. The number of hunters in the area has been increased.
The attack came just days after the Ministry of Natural Resources and Spatial Planning approved the cull of 206 brown bears this season as a way to control the thriving bear population and prevent human-bear conflict.
Škofljica is in the central bear range and hunters in the area covered by the Škofljica hunting club have permission to kill four brown bears until the middle of next year.
The ministry said an emergency protocol was activated after the attack allowing hunters to immediately take down problematic bears.
The latest estimates put Slovenia's brown bear population at around 1,000. Attacks are not very common, but at least two were reported in 2023, including one in Škofljica.
Between 2000 and 2023 at least 15 people were injured in brown bear attacks, according to data gathered by the Slovenian Press Agency. More common are bear attacks on farm animals.
Despite the thriving bear population and occasional attacks, animal rights groups claim culling is excessive and primarily benefits trophy hunters, which scientists and the authorities alike reject.
