Keep or cull? Romania divided over its bear population

COVASNA, Romania — It was a sight that stopped traffic. A brown bear seemingly asleep, its head on its paws, on a winding forest road in central Romania, some paper napkins by its side.

"It's amazing," said Mike, a 72-year-old Israeli tourist. "I thought it might be dead."

But the bear was just taking a rest after a sandwich, one of many thrown by tourists travelling Transylvania so they can get a great holiday snap.

In Romania, home to Europe's largest brown bear population outside Russia, attacks are on the rise as the bears venture out of the forests looking for food, often brought by tourists or left in unsecured garbage cans.

The problem is pitting herders and farmers against conservationists, with authorities dramatically upping the number of bears that can be culled this year by 50 percent to 220. And some MPs want that number doubled.

Those pushing for higher quotas paint the bears as a threat, and claim their numbers are surging, with the environment ministry estimating the population at 8,000.

But experts counter that outdated, inaccurate methods are used to count the species protected by an EU directive to ensure their conservation. 

Results of a census using DNA to ensure roaming bears are not counted several times are still pending.

Conservationists argue it is possible to better manage human-bear conflict rather than killing the animals. 

But several locals in the Carpathian Mountains told AFP they were alarmed by increased bear sightings.

Fourteen people have died and 158 were injured in attacks between 2016 and 2021, according to official figures. 

Herder Tibor Fekete, who tends 70 cows in mountain pastures near the road to Lake Saint Anne, wants bears to be shot. He said they killed three of his cows this year.

"Bears cause damage and put our lives at risk," said the 40-year-old, who complained of the cost of keeping six dogs to protect the herd. 

Last month a bear also entered a schoolyard in Miercurea Ciuc, 30 kilometres (20 miles) away, and climbed up a tree.

An intervention team killed the animal rather than chasing it away or tranquilising it, saying they were ensuring the safety of the school's 1,700-plus pupils. 

Bears can still attack