The State should allow shooting of 50 wild bears annually, insists The Bulgarian Game NGO About a thousand bears are now wandering in Bulgarian forests. Their number has increased in the last few years, reports Bulgaria's Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry.
In the region of the Rhodope Mountains (south-southeastern Bulgaria) alone the number of animals is 200.
Bears have already inhabited even the Vitosha Mountain. It has emerged that between seven and ten bears wander in the mountain closest to Sofia.
Most of the bears are friendly. However, there are signals about aggressive animals every year. They attack livestock and destroy whole herds of sheep and goats. Although very rarely, there have been incidents when bears attack people, reported the regional divisions for forestry control. Bears are protected species and bear hunting is banned.
The only way farmers have to protect their livestock from bear invasion is to obtain a special permission from Bulgaria's Ministry of Environment and Water, which is issued for a certain period. The permission could be extended, if hunters do not manage to rescue their village from the wild beasts. By the time of the "rescue operation", however, a bear might have destroyed several herds.
The first in Bulgaria non-governmental organization dealing with the control of bear population and is The Bulgarian Game Association. Popular Bulgarian businessmen, politicians and sportsmen, who care for wildlife founded the Association. According to experts, the number of brown bears in Bulgaria is stable, and there is a tendency to its growth. There is a project in preparation for the identification of each bear on the Bulgarian territory. Bears in the most endangered regions will wear collars with chips allowing to control their migration.