Slovakia approves cull of 350 bears after fatal mauling
Slovakia has approved a plan to cull 350 brown bears after a 59-year-old man was found dead in central Slovakia with injuries that authorities believe were caused by a bear. The decision, reported by AP on April 2, 2025, marks one of the country’s most aggressive responses yet to a series of attacks that officials say are becoming more frequent.
Environment Minister Tomáš Taraba said bear attacks on humans reached 1,900 last year, a figure the government is using to justify its policy shift. Prime Minister Robert Fico backed the move in blunt terms, saying the country could not be a place where people fear going into forests. The government also declared a state of emergency in 55 of Slovakia’s 72 counties, which gives the environment ministry authority to issue cull permissions directly.
The brown bear population in Slovakia is estimated at more than 1,000, according to the supplied AP report. That estimate matters because it frames the scale of the response: culling 350 bears would affect a large share of the national population if the figure is accurate. The government had already permitted the killing of 144 bears in 2024, showing that the current decision continues a rising intervention trend rather than creating a new policy from scratch.
Environmental groups are pushing back. AP reported that they argue the cull violates Slovakia’s international obligations and say authorities should focus on prevention instead. The excerpt does not specify all the preventive measures they want, but the policy dispute is clear: one side sees culling as urgent public protection, while the other sees it as a breach of conservation duties and a failure to address the underlying causes of human-bear conflict.
The fatality appears to have sharpened the political response. The body of the man was found on Sunday, and by Wednesday the government had approved the cull. That pace suggests the incident was treated as a trigger for immediate action, not a longer regulatory review.
The Slovak case also fits a broader European pattern. AP noted a similar measure approved in Romania last year, indicating that governments in parts of the region are reaching for culls when bear encounters become politically and socially difficult to manage. What happens next in Slovakia will likely depend on whether the emergency powers and cull targets reduce attacks or deepen opposition from conservation groups. For now, the government has chosen speed and force over restraint.
