St. Patrick’s Day disturbances are nothing new, but in the case of one small Slovak town, the perpetrator wasn’t a whiskey-fueled Irishman. It was a large brown bear.
Videos surfaced earlier this week of the rampage that took place in the town of Liptovský Mikuláš. In the video, a brown bear is seen running through the pedestrian-filled streets, in broad daylight, terrorizing people along the way. The bear attacked a total of five people, including a 10-year-old girl, and sent many others fleeing for safety.
‼️🐻 Bear in the center of Liptovský Mikuláš #ThisIsSlovakia
— This Is Slovakia (@ThisIsSlovakia_) March 17, 2024
🎥: Marika Trnkova Bizubova / Facebook #medved #bear #medvednica #medveď #slovensko #slovakia #liptovskymikulas #danger #wildlife #animal #bears pic.twitter.com/kx76SmFJUZ
The incident came on the heels of another bear attack just two days earlier in the nearby Low Tatras Mountains that saw a brown bear claim the life of a 31-year-old hiker. The incident marked the first fatal bear attack in Slovakia since 2021 and sent shockwaves through the small European country.
After authorities warned residents to stay inside their homes, they soon mounted a counter-attack on the bear. Gathering up a team of both hunters and police officers, they enlisted the help of a biometric drone to help them locate the problem bear. According to a Facebook post from the country’s Minister of Environment, the bear was shot down around 10PM on March 26th.
The two incidents serve as a harsh reminder about how these animals are managed in Slovakia and much of Europe. These bears remain protected species and, as such, are not managed by ways of hunting. Many Slovak politicians, including the current president, are now calling for these protections to be lifted as populations have ballooned over the past few decades.
Officials from both Slovakia and Romania announced last week that they would be submitting a proposal to the EU to reclassify the bears.
