In Romania, officials expand bear culling while scientists show how to reduce conflicts to almost zero

In all the media and social networks, there's talk of a 'bear invasion in Russia.' This is followed by calls to deal with them as quickly as possible, claiming that their numbers have doubled in recent decades and the only way to solve this problem is to shoot the bears. High-ranking officials are swiftly considering legalizing bear hunting during their hibernation in dens, meaning all winter, and removing any limits on their capture. Additionally, they start 'spinning budgets,' promising large rewards to anyone who kills a bear.

As we have already discussed in previous articles: there is no real bear population count; the numbers are unknown and vary significantly even within official reports. Scientific studies, where researchers examined bear conflicts from 2001 to 2018, confirm that bears approaching humans was triggered by habitat destruction and lack of food sources, not population growth. Moreover, the influential hunting lobby has been campaigning for years, repeatedly demanding permission to kill bears in their dens, and now, 'coincidentally,' alongside a real problem, the internet is suddenly flooded with fake news about bears approaching humans, which is officially confirmed. In other words, the information environment was massively manipulated!

I won't repeat earlier materials; please read them via the links I will place below. It's essential! There is very important information about what is happening right now.

But I want to discuss another issue.

We are told that shooting bears is the only method of resolving conflicts. No one suggests addressing real ecological problems, reducing pressure on wildlife, or imposing a moratorium on sport hunting and animal shooting. Instead, we hear a linear rhetoric: more bears need to be killed, and budget money should be allocated for this. On the contrary, instead of reducing, say, hunting pressure on animal populations, projects and laws are being adopted that significantly expand their killing. The Ministry of Natural Resources openly states that it wants to adopt a plan for the 'intensive development of the hunting industry' in the country, significantly increasing figures and, consequently, budget revenues.

Are there really no other methods of conflict resolution in our country? Must the bear, the 'terrifying taiga monster,' inevitably die for attempting to approach human settlements in a starving, exhausted state?

Around the world, practical experience in interacting with wildlife and preventing conflicts with animals has long been used. Moreover, this experience is EXCELLENTLY USED IN OUR COUNTRY as well; for instance, I have repeatedly mentioned the village of Yaylyu on Lake Teletskoye (Republic of Altai). Our officials should go there, talk to the villagers, and learn from their practical, real-life experience. But no, they won't go, because their interests lie elsewhere—everyone understands what's happening, and everyone knows how to solve problems in practice. It's just that no one needs it.

I want to discuss another country. This is Romania. Here, there are severe conflicts with bears, alongside the implementation of modern scientific approaches, resulting in a double reaction: while the authorities shout about the need to shoot bears, at the same time, scientists demonstrate practical methods for modern coexistence between humans and wildlife.

Let me start with some background.

During the 'Ceaușescu era,' from 1963 to 1989, bears in the country were artificially supported for elite hunting. Hunting was practically closed to the general public, but the political elite, including Ceaușescu himself, actively engaged in VIP killings. This says a lot about 'big politics,' doesn't it? From around 1974, bears were actively fed for elite hunting, deliberately, to make them inhabit certain areas for future shooting. Their numbers were also deliberately increased: about 4,000 bears were counted in 1975, and after mass feeding in elite hunting grounds, there were about 8,000 bears. Let me remind you, this is Romania—a small country.

Ceaușescu himself and members of his inner circle, according to expert analysis, personally killed at least 450 bears. They regularly went to shoot animals.

Later, after 1990, the feeding of bears continued, but hunting became more accessible to everyone. The industry of paid killings continued as a legacy of the old regime. By 2000, the population was estimated at about 5,000 to 6,000 individuals. And since bears were widely fed everywhere, this developed a habit of living close to humans, suppressing their biological evolutionary caution towards humans, and bears often roamed near settlements.

And so, in 2007, after Romania joined the European Union, the brown bear received strict protection under European conservation laws. Regular bear hunting was halted, and only conflict animals could be removed under 'special exceptions.' It was precisely these exceptions that VIP hunters began to exploit, buying these 'exceptions' for money.

At first, everything seemed reasonable, even worthy of respect.

See for yourself:

In 2016, Romanian authorities banned actual trophy hunting of bears under the guise of regulation. Before this, there was a quota for the destruction of 550 bears, and foreign hunters would come to Romania to shoot bears, paying around 10,000 euros per trophy. The then Minister of Natural Resources, Cristiana Pașca-Palmer, stated that the exception intended for removing dangerous animals was being used for commercial hunting. In October 2016, this practice was stopped and a temporary ban was introduced.

This provoked a fierce conflict with officials who served the interests of the influential hunting lobby. They were outraged: how could it be NOT ALLOWED TO KILL? This means they would have to halt the flow of money?

From 2017 to 2021, they began to stir up the information landscape, genuinely scaring the population with a 'bear invasion.' I checked scientific reviews, where researchers show the scale of this madness. For instance, scientists analyzed 931 publications in Romanian media from 2007 to 2021. In 2016, there were 23 publications about bears, in 2017 there were 69, and in 2021 — 430. Of the materials on human-bear interactions, 53% had a negative tone, and 68% did not explain the causes of conflicts. Even the simple appearance of a bear near a person was often presented as a conflict. All of this was done deliberately!

Doesn't this remind you of anything, comrades?

Let's move on. Already in 2023, the new Romanian Minister of the Environment is attempting to legalize the mass destruction of bears. On June 14, Minister Barna Tánczos announced that he had signed an order providing for the destruction of 426 bears under a preventive quota and another 55 under intervention — a total of 481. The Romanian Academy officially stated that its specialized commission had not given preliminary consent. The documents were received by the Academy only in the evening of the same day, already with the minister's signed project. Moreover, the study justifying the figures of 426 and 55 was not provided to the commission at all.

How about that? Doesn't it remind you of anything? Complete disregard for science, ministerial manipulations, and outright forgery with the sole aim of legalizing the shooting of animals.

But officials lack a real scandal. They need something to incite real fear in society and portray the bear as an absolute threat! And so, in July 2024, a 19-year-old tourist dies, and against this backdrop, Parliament was urgently convened from vacation — yes, they could rejoice: officials immediately allowed the annual killing of 220 to 481 bears. 426 under the preventive quota and 55 under intervention. The decision was made literally a few days after the tragedy. President Klaus Iohannis publicly stated that there are "too many" bears in the country, and then the law was approved.

What efficiency, right? Meanwhile, bears were actively being fed near roads, and the internet was flooded with such videos and photos. And as is known: feeding a bear by hand is killing a bear and provoking future conflicts because the safe boundary is erased.

Now look at what was happening in parallel. Back in 2018, the Romanian government was trying to establish a NORMAL SYSTEM OF INTERACTION with wildlife. A national action plan for bears was adopted, aiming to create a genetic registry, regularly count the actual population size and structure, establish a comprehensive monitoring system, preserve ecological corridors, create special regional response teams, use electric fences, employ bear-proof garbage containers, protect livestock and property, work with specific conflict animals, relocate animals, and reduce human-bear interactions.

The plan mandated conducting national genetic studies using non-invasive samples at least once every ten years. It also called for a minimum of five special regional groups, which were to include specialists in forestry, hunting, veterinary science, biology, and ecology.

IN OTHER WORDS, COMPLETELY ADEQUATE GOVERNMENT MEASURES BASED ON A SYSTEMATIC APPROACH TO INTERACTING WITH WILDLIFE.

One could say "bravo! Just BRAVO!" — but practically no one did, as instead, there were government reshuffles, the hunting lobby came to the forefront, and they pulled the line: KILL BEARS ACROSS THE COUNTRY!

So, the plan is sort of in effect, but no one intends to follow it. And all because no one wanted to slow down the flow of money from influential foreign trophy hunters. Self-serving interests of immediate profit prevailed!

Then the authorities of the individual city of Băile Tușnad decided to establish their own system of interaction, and while the main government was calling for dealing with bears and increasing the scale of shootings, the administration of Băile Tușnad, together with global scientists, began to address real problems.

Starting in 2019, instead of trying to eliminate bears, they began installing electric fences to protect yards, farms, and other properties. Later, the system was expanded to approximately 400 electric fences. They started working on waste management and other food sources that attracted animals to humans. Eliminating food rewards is one of the key principles of this system.

Between 2021 and 2022, a system was also created to work with individual bears rather than the entire population at once. Scientists and specialists began using GPS collars, camera traps, monitoring the movements of specific animals, an early warning system, a specialized response team, deterrence, tranquilization and relocation, waste and food source control, and electric fences. Lethal intervention was made a last resort.

And now look at the results. I will immediately note that the area of Băile Tușnad is one of the most bear-populated in the country, and therefore the practical experience there is very indicative.

Before the entire system was launched, in 2021, there were 41 incidents of bear-related damage registered in Băile Tușnad.

In 2022 — 0.

In 2023 — 0.

The number of emergency bear alert messages:

2021 — 149;

2022 — 30;

2023 — 6.

Thus, the registered damage decreased from 41 cases to zero, and the number of emergency warnings dropped almost 25 times.

How do you find the scale of this work?

Here in Russia, by October 2026, there were approximately 59 recorded bear attacks on people due to conflicts, BUT IT COULD HAVE BEEN EXACTLY ZERO. All the methods of control, conflict prevention, modern technical means, and even specialists are already available.

Importantly, in the area around the town of Băile Tușnad, no bears were destroyed; they remained as an existing population, only the approach changed, the very system of human interaction with them.

Further results for 2025–2026 showed that the outcome was maintained, and the model began to spread further, attracting interest from other regions. Scientists reported that by 2025, the number of registered damage cases in Băile Tușnad still stood at zero. There were only 14 emergency warnings in a year, requiring 5 interventions: one deterrence and four relocations of animals; not a single bear was destroyed. By 2026, Băile Tușnad's experience was already being presented to other municipalities in Romania as a practical model for conflict prevention. Scientists, specifically relevant experts, are approaching authorities and proposing the implementation of REAL MODERN PRACTICAL MODELS OF INTERACTION WITH WILDLIFE to stop the linear, senseless killings.

In summary, while government officials are fueling the fire in the interests of the hunting lobby by pushing for mass bear killings, even ignoring the national academy of sciences, at the same time, in the same country, a wonderful model of interaction is being implemented, demonstrating to everyone the possibility of coexisting with wildlife without linear killings.

And now tell me, comrades, we are currently experiencing a "bear invasion" in the country, with scandals and calls to deal with them. Shootings have begun, thousands of bears have already been destroyed, and bounties have been instantly announced for anyone who kills a bear. There are attempts to push through winter killings in dens and to remove any limits on their culling.

What prevents us from integrating a practical model that has already proven effective in the Romanian city of Băile Tușnad? What stops us from reducing conflict to zero if such developments already exist and are successfully used?

It's very simple. As in the rest of Romania, the influential hunting lobby prevails. Trophy tourists, who paid €10,000 for killing a bear, are ready to pay even more money—just give them the opportunity to shoot the "forest monster."

And prudence clashes with a completely primitive desire to shoot someone on one hand, and to sell the right to kill on the other.

Update to the material: Romania has allowed the killing of 969 bears annually in the country. Law No. 190/2026 dated October 5, 2026, has been signed. 

Below are materials for study, be sure to familiarize yourself. We are practically the only ones systematically trying to influence the problem of bear destruction in Russia. And it is very serious:

• About how the internet was flooded with fakes about bears: https://pavel-pashkov.com/articles/en/fake-bear

  
  

• What is actually happening and is it true that bears are massively attacking people: https://pavel-pashkov.com/articles/en/bear-hysteria

  
  

• In just one year, the authorities allowed the killing of over 52,000 bears: https://pavel-pashkov.com/articles/en/bear-registry2027

  
  

• Subsequently, there were demands to kill bears during hibernation and to remove any limits altogether: https://pavel-pashkov.com/articles/en/invasion-of-bears

  
  
• And is it true that the bear population has doubled and now cannot fit in the taiga: https://pavel-pashkov.com/articles/en/how-many-bears

We are keeping our finger on the pulse! Help! There is no one else to fight for Life—it's just us and the much-suffering wild nature. Be its voice. Do not retreat.

© PAVEL PASHKOV