Some 1000 bears roam Bulgaria’s mountains and forests. In data from the Ministry of Environment and Water their number has been on the rise in recent years. In the southeastern Rhodope Mountains alone, their population numbers 200. Fifteen bears live in Mount Vitosha on the outskirts of Sofia. Most of the bears are quite friendly. However every year there are reports of bear attacks on livestock.

In Bulgaria bear hunting is under a ban. Farmers are free to hunt bears provided they hold a special license. It is issued by the Ministry of the Environment and is valid for a certain period. Mountain villages are the usual targets of meat-eating bears.
With animals there is the notion of dangerous closeness, explains Prof. Lyudmil Boyadzhiev, surgeon and Chairman of the Bulgarian Wild Animal Association. The wild animal does not attack humans unless they tread on the territory where it lives. In the latter case it perceives a threat coming from humans. If we can control the relationship of bears and people, then we should not organize bear hunts. If however there are aggressive bears, regulation may become necessary. In such cases bear hunting should be permitted, because organized hunting is part of species management. In America for instance, 9 to 10,000 black bears are hunted legally on an annual basis.

Villagers in mountain regions have been lobbying for changes to regulated ways of bear hunting. The bill on hunting is still on its way to the parliamentary committee on agriculture and forestry. While it is waiting to be discussed, bear attacks have doubled, experts comment. The Bulgarian Wild Animal Association members insist on exerting control over the bear population and its development. This is an NGO caring for the Bulgarian forests and its wild animal populations. Its members are businessmen, politicians and athletes.
In 2006-2007, Prof. Boyadzhiev explains, a working group made up of Bulgarian and foreign experts drafted a plan for brown bear population management in Bulgaria with the purpose of locating its habitats. The research suggested there are 200 bears in national parks. 600 bears live in areas of state-run hunting farms, and 250 – in areas managed by hunting societies.
This implies that 70% of the population of the brown bear is in places where human activity takes place – wood-processing, cattle breeding, tourism etc. This situation allows for more active hunting – some 40 to 50 bears per annum. This will in no way threaten the bear population in Bulgaria. Such a policy will be beneficial in many different ways – reduction of poaching, proper care for bear habitats, coupled with good profit from hunting fares – at least 1000 euro per hunted bear.
The Bulgarian brown bear population will continue to expand, the Bulgarian Wild Animal Association contends. To deliver precise statistics, its members are launching overall identification and counting of the species. Marking 15 conflict zones in the Western Rhodopes has started under a Bulgarian-Greek project worth EUR 180,000. They will be lined with barbed wire with low-voltage electricity. This will prevent bear attacks on beehives and livestock. In more dangerous zones bears will be equipped with collars and tracing chips.
Written by: Diana Hristakieva
English version: Daniela Konstantinova