In the afternoon of Wednesday, 22 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 on a man near the municipality of Tužiná, in the Prievidza district. The bear attacked a pair of joggers from a dense forest stand. Members of the Intervention Team searched the site of the attack in the Ponitrie Protected Landscape Area today.
The bear attacked one of the joggers from a young beech stand located away from the built-up area of the municipality and within its natural habitat. Probably an adult male bear was searching for natural food – beechnuts – in the location and, disturbed by the runners’ approach, he attacked one of them. The 38-year-old man who was attacked sustained bite wounds to his lower limb. After the treatment in the hospital, he was discharged for home treatment and his condition is stable.
During the today’s search of the site, members of the SNC SR Intervention Team found fresh signs of a brown bear’s presence in the location. The area where the attack occurred is a well-known and popular spot for harvesting bear garlic. For this reason, the SNC SR Intervention Team warns citizens as well as tourists coming to this location to be extra cautious.
March marks the time when bears come out of their dens and guiding female bears bring out their cubs. 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.
In this context, the SNC SR has also prepared a short educational film on how we should behave in a forest where large carnivores can occur, which is available on the SNC SR’s YouTube channel:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rhlOtrGM6uk.
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/.
This press release was prepared by the Department of Communication and Promotion of the State Nature Conservancy of the Slovak Republic.
