Due to the mild winter, bears in some regions of Slovakia are not hibernating.

In the afternoon hours of yesterday, a bear attacked a jogger near the municipality of Kanianka in the Prievidza district. The attack occurred in a forest area, which is a natural bear habitat, approximately 3 km away as the crow flies from the built-up area of the municipality. The man’s upper limb was injured. After the attack, he was treated in an outpatient clinic and is currently recovering at home. The Brown Bear Intervention Team of the State Nature Conservancy of the SR (SNC SR Intervention Team) carried out an inspection of the attack site today.

The SNC SR warns citizens that due to the mild winter bears in some regions of Slovakia are not hibernating. Bears are not true hibernators, and if they have enough food they may not hibernate. The onset of hibernation depends largely on the ecological factors of the specific environment, such as the climate conditions, geographical location, elevation, granularity of the landscape, but also on the health, age and sex of the specimen. During mild winters, young males in particular do not hibernate, as they search for the remains of various food items, such as dead game, fruits or tree seeds (beechnuts and acorns). Also in this case, based on the inspection of the attack site, the SNC SR Intervention Team has confirmed that the attacking bear was a young specimen weighing approximately 80 kg.

In areas where brown bears are present, the SNC SR Intervention Team recommends that tourists restrict their movement in the mountain environment, especially in bad weather, before dawn or at dusk, and avoid the places with limited visibility and dense vegetation, which are often used by bears for resting. To minimise the risk of a bear encounter, it is advisable to make your presence known acoustically (by whistling, singing, clapping or using a bell).

The SNC SR Intervention Team continues to monitor the area. Detailed information on how to behave when encountering a bear is available on the website of the Brown Bear Intervention Team: https://zasahovytim.sopsr.sk/ and on https://omedvedoch.sk/.

This press release was prepared by the Department of Communication and Promotion of the State Nature Conservancy of the Slovak Republic.