On Thursday, 30 March, the Brown Bear Intervention Team of the State Nature Conservancy of the Slovak Republic (SNC SR Intervention Team) received a report of a bear attack suffered by a forest worker near the municipality of Nedožery – Brezany in the Prievidza district. The bear attacked the man in a beech grove in Ostrá dolina valley, where he was planting trees with other workers. Members of the SNC SR Intervention Team inspected the site in the Ponitrie Protected Landscape Area together with the game farmer and a representative of the local hunting association Žiar Nedožery – Brezany.

Members of the Intervention Team found a bear den near the site of the attack and confirmed that the forest worker was attacked by a female bear which had cubs. The site of the attack is located off the hiking trail, in an older beech stand which is the brown bear’s natural habitat. The presence of the group of forest workers scared the bear, which moved away from the den. As the workers were walking down the slope after finishing their work, the bear returned to the den and suddenly attacked the man. As the forest workers started shouting, the bear aborted the attack and fled the site. The attacked man sustained a number of bite injuries and was discharged for home treatment after being treated in the hospital.  

The SNC SR Intervention Team urges the local citizens as well as the tourists to be extra cautious. Guiding female bears are bringing their cubs out of their dens at this time of the year, and thus they are very protective of them. To minimise the risk of a bear encounter, it is advised to make your presence known acoustically and always remain on the hiking trails. The SNC SR Brown Bear Intervention Team continues to monitor the area.

Further detailed information on how to act in the case of a bear encounter are available on the SNC SR Brown Bear Intervention Team’s website: https://zasahovytim.sopsr.sk/.