Bears are flocking to people in Sochi: attacking people, rummaging through garbage bins, and bringing their cubs.

A living example of what the expansion of resorts and the attempt to squeeze colossal profits from tourists leads to! Right now, in the vicinity of Krasnaya Polyana (Sochi) and on the Lagonaki Plateau, mass cases of bears approaching people are being recorded: the animals chase people, rummage through garbage, and do not know what to do or where to go. Their migration routes have been disrupted! Bears are becoming synanthropic, meaning they are literally forced to live near humans who have destroyed their habitat — this leads to conflicts, and the authorities are calling for increased culling.

The same thing is now happening at Lake Baikal, which the authorities want to “develop” as quickly as possible by pushing through a bill on clear-cutting and the large-scale appropriation of protected lands for the sake of millions of Chinese tourists. And while officials see only profit, the people of our country see growing problems that will only worsen year after year.

So.

Our people from the southern regions of the country report a mass appearance of bears. I will quote our allies:

“Bears are increasingly approaching people in the village of Guzeripl. Apparently, we need to go even deeper into the reserve, cut down more forest, build lots of roads and resorts, so that the bears of Adygea finally turn into local pigeons, living on tourist garbage dumps.”

“In Krasnaya Polyana a cub was run over, and female bears rummage through trash bins and attack people. In addition to yesterday’s publication about more frequent bear appearances in the villages of Adygea, here is what is happening on the other side of the ridge.”

The Sochi road accident and emergency group reported that on the new road in Krasnaya Polyana, a car hit a bear cub: “Local residents and drivers have repeatedly noticed that young wild animals often go out onto the roadway. This time the encounter with a car proved fatal for the animal.”

Now I quote another community: “Locals are increasingly encountering bears: they rummage in trash bins, chase people, and are not afraid of police sirens. Near Panorama Park a female bear attacked a scooter rider and later chased a cyclist. And a family of brown bears came into the Olympic Village, where one of the cubs approached right up to a residential building while the mother bear hid in the bushes.”

Separate reports also come from our allies defending Lagonaki, I quote:

“We are now in the village of Kirovskoye, Krasnodar Krai, Mostovsky district. Here, bears roam at night — searching for food in garbage bins. This is what tourism brings. People come here to recreation bases year-round. They grill kebabs and so on. Locals say that ‘the bears have become completely brazen.’ They say it wasn’t like this before. We ourselves find fresh piles (note: emoji here) in the yard every day.”

“In our village too, a bear came and tore up a man’s honey apiary.”

I deliberately placed direct quotes so that all our readers can assess the problem in a broad context. These are not isolated cases, but a truly worsening situation that threatens further growth of human-wildlife conflicts and the introduction by officials of “additional measures” in the form of killing animals “so they don’t get in the way” of big business carving up our country’s protected system.

Today, across the entire Caucasus Reserve, the number of brown bears is estimated at only about 269 individuals (as of 2025). With the addition of young cubs, the number may reach up to 450.

In recent years, synanthropic populations have been forming. This information comes from Caucasus scientists. I studied the works of a good specialist, S. A. Trepet, as well as his colleagues — they provide objective assessments: the appearance of food waste dumps in bear habitats (for example, near tourist camps) inevitably leads to an increase in the number of synanthropic individuals. Scientific monographs note that historically, the Caucasian bear did not show aggression towards humans — it calmly visited orchards and apiaries near settlements. However, since the 1980s, with the development of the Sochi National Park and simultaneous large-scale human occupation of the territory, “the composition and structure of ecosystems have changed.” Active ski and sports tourism displaces animals from valleys, forcing them to adapt to altered conditions.

And yet it is possible to create ecological routes without harming wildlife, monitor tourist behavior, and avoid aggressive construction. But what do we see? In reality, sometimes even a bandit-like seizure of the reserve system, with business breaking directly into wildlife refuges, literally taking these lands from wild animals and plants. Like the recent bill in Adygea, where officials tried to legalize the transplantation of Red Book plants from reserves in order to seize their lands for their “selfish interests.” They’ve completely lost their minds!

So, it is precisely the expansion of tourist clusters, the primitive seizure of reserves for short-term profit that leads to the emergence of synanthropic populations of bears and other animals. And now we see how bears, deprived of their home, come to humans! The boundary between wildlife and people is being erased, conflicts begin, and then come government “solutions” in the form of killing animals. That’s the whole “solution to the problem.”

For example, in the Republic of Adygea, the authorities excluded the brown bear from the Red Book, where it had previously been listed as an endangered species. Hunters were allowed to shoot bears, and the decision was unanimously supported by all regional officials. Scientists, however, were shocked — specialists directly stated that this decision simply eliminates the animals, destroys the population, but does not address the reasons for their appearance near humans. Another bear will simply come to replace the one killed! And this will continue until people kill them all.

Interestingly, by the end of the 2010s, the range of brown bears in the Western Caucasus had shrunk almost to the borders of the Sochi National Park and the Caucasus Reserve; about 20,000 hectares of habitat had been lost due to mountain development (including traditional autumn feeding and denning grounds on the Aibga and Psekhako ridges). At the same time, migration routes (the Mzymta River valley, upper Pshekha River) were disrupted, pushing animals into less suitable areas. Scientists note that against the background of constant mountain development, “bears will be permanently driven into ‘reservations,’ where, in order to survive, they will have to undergo a difficult process of adaptation or become residents of the Red Book.” Although it is already clear that even the Red Book can easily be abolished “at the snap of an official’s fingers.”

We must also not forget the growth of tourist activity, when hundreds of thousands and even millions of tourists begin to disturb animals. Roads, transport arteries, trails, and infrastructure continue to expand rapidly, capturing more and more territory. And what do people start doing? Exactly — setting up dumps, trying to “take pictures with animals,” deliberately feeding them. Then we see conflicts with predators and the acceleration of synanthropic population formation!

At the end of the material, I want to post in full the publication of our allies defending the Lagonaki Plateau from September 2, 2025.

“Does the director of the Caucasus Reserve need more gold?”

Since August 1, the Caucasus “amusement park” (reserve) has raised the cost of the first day to 500 rubles and has effectively canceled benefits. Now, for beneficiaries, only the first day is free, called a “visit,” while subsequent days are now “accommodation.” But such pricing policy is not driven by the desire to preserve nature, but, apparently, by the desire to rake in more money from the growing flow of tourists.

In 2020, reserve scientists conducted an assessment of recreational load. The conclusions were disappointing — exceeding permissible limits by 1.5 to 8 times. Scientists write:

“Negative impact of recreational activities on the reserve’s natural complexes is observed, with vegetation cover degradation. On tourist routes, 17 synanthropic species (dependent on humans) of mammals were identified, the largest number at the Fisht shelter (15). Synanthropization of fox, tur, and bear is observed, caused by violations in food waste storage and disposal rules.”

“The increased tourist flow requires a fundamentally different approach. Reducing negative impact is possible primarily through limited ticket sales, shorter stays, control over visitor behavior, and rules for handling food and waste.”

“It is even possible to completely abandon multi-day tourism in the reserve or on some routes, as, for example, has been done in the Teberda Reserve.”

Fresh impressions from tourist Yulia: “In Lake Psenodakh float a blister plaster, chicken bones, hygiene products (((( At Fisht they suggest pouring food waste into the Belaya River, a herd of horses tramples the territory. Pay for everything. We have not seen such an attitude toward nature in any other reserve in Russia — maximizing profit = the main mission, not nature conservation!”

“It is already necessary to urgently introduce quotas for visiting the reserve in order to preserve it, but instead the honored ecologist manages the entrusted reserve in the style of a classic of Russian literature from Heart of a Dog: ‘I cannot remain without food, where will I dine?’”

I publish the scientific work itself, a collection of research articles on the anthropogenic load on the Caucasus Reserve, as a separate document (original). If any of our allies need to support the information, they can download and study it!

File Download the study (PDF) 950 KB

This is the situation now in the south of Russia! Bears are coming to people, rummaging in garbage dumps, conflicts with humans are emerging. The situation is worsening. Already in Adygea, bears have been removed from the Red Book and shooting them has been permitted! At the same time, the seizure of animal habitats and reserves continues — all for short-term profit.

Let us continue our Mission in the struggle for Life! Right now there is a great battle for the Lagonaki Plateau in the Western Caucasus, and we still have a lot of work ahead. Special thanks to our allies who are right there “on the ground,” as they say, defending the reserve land. An incredibly difficult struggle is underway.

Do not give up. We are with you!

© PAVEL PASHKOV