There was a bear attack near the Belá river between the villages of Liptovská Kokava and Pribylina on Wednesday, August 23 in the afternoon. The collision between a 57-year-old man and a bear took place outside the village and outside the marked hiking trails in the forest environment.

An almost sixty-year-old man was slightly injured in the abdomen and right arm while searching for mushrooms in a dense forest. He left the place of the attack alone and called an ambulance after returning home. The minor injuries did not require hospitalization and he was discharged to home treatment after treatment.

“Most likely, due to the roar of the river, the man did not hear the warning signals from the bear that was moving along the stream. In the vast majority of cases, the bear first warns by growling or snorting so that the person does not approach. They will attack only afterwards,” said Simona Klamárová from the Brown Bear Intervention Team – North. There are also several corn fields near the incident site.

The intervention team was informed about the attack and the police were called. State security guards immediately checked the place of the attack, communicated with rescuers and tried to contact the injured. This is the ninth attack by a bear on a person this year.

In connection with the increased movement of the public in unclear forest stands, and not only during the mushroom picking season, we call for caution. To avoid an unexpected encounter with a bear, the ability to recognize the signs of residence and the most common food of the bear will help.

When moving in the forest, we should pay attention to tracks, droppings and signs of bear feeding. We should be especially careful when moving in dense vegetation, in places with the occurrence of forest fruits, in the presence of carcasses, poor visibility or hearing, e.g. if we are moving against the wind or near flowing waters.

State conservationists and the Ministry of the Environment are nevertheless working on a set of measures that will strengthen actionability, prevention and cooperation in the area of the brown bear. An application for reporting bear sightings is currently being tested, and a meeting of the working group for brown bears, consisting of farmers, hunters, conservationists and other actors, took place. At the same time, a new intervention team is being formed and other steps that have already been presented to the public are being implemented.