A motorcyclist was fatally mauled by a bear in the Romanian Carpathians, emergency services have confirmed, writes the Independent.
Thursday's incident is the latest fatal attack in the country, which is struggling with the largest brown bear population in the European Union - between 10,000 and 13,000 according to a recent study.
Romanian authorities have long struggled to ensure the safety of residents and tourists in mountain towns.
The latest incident took place on the Transfagarasan highway in the central Arges county.
The bear reportedly dragged the motorcyclist into ravine.
Nearly 30 people have been killed by bears in Romania in the last 20 years.
Bear sightings are common and local media regularly report bear attacks on people and livestock.
In 2024 The Romanian parliament doubled the annual quota for killing bears to 481. The measure was taken to control the size of the bear population and eliminate animals that have become accustomed to entering cities in search of food. Thursday's tragedy came just a week after a 19-year-old tourist died after being attacked by a bear on a popular trail in the Carpathian Mountains in central Romania. The teenager called emergency services when the bear confronted her and her boyfriend. He confirmed to local rescue teams that they had been attacked by a bear. She was terrified and screamed, "The bear is getting closer and closer!" Dan Banu, the head of the rescuers, told local media.
“Everything happened live, the 112 dispatcher was on the phone and the young man was shouting that they were attacked by a bear and that it had kidnapped the girl. It was something terrible!“ Banu continued.
“He told us that the bear had grabbed the girl by one leg and dragged her after him, at one point losing sight of them. The bear dragged the young woman off the path and threw her into a 120-meter ravine“.
Just a few months earlier, a 72-year-old Scottish tourist was attacked by a bear in Arges County after she rolled down her car window to take a picture with the animal.
Wildlife experts say bear attacks have increased due to human behavior as the animals' habitats shrink due to construction, logging and climate change.
Many bears are also attracted to garbage dumps on the outskirts of cities and discarded food.
Officials have not done enough to step up preventive measures, including electric fences and better garbage management, wildlife experts said. nature.