His relationship human of the countryside with large carnivores, such as bear, wolf, lynx and the jackal it was never harmonious, always hiding the element of competition. Specialist scientists admit that the existence of these species in an area somehow “certifies” that forest, mountain and rural ecosystems are in relatively good condition. But what happens when for some reason the balance is lost and animals like bears are found even in cities?

The publication of many photos and videos on social media where bears and their cubs are walking within the settlements of Your daughter and his Dispilou Kastoria mobilized the local authorities. What caused the most impression is the presence of a bear with her 4 cubs in the area of ​​Korisos where they are all having a meal of cherries in a residential orchard located within the settlement. The Deputy Governor of Kastoria Dimitris Savvopoulos apparently alarmed by the repeated appearances of bears in the settlements, he sent an urgent letter to Environment Minister Theodore Skylakakis requesting the assistance of the ministry’s services through its supervised entities to deal with the above incidents. As he said while speaking to APE BEE “We informed the minister about the situation we are facing, that there is a danger to the lives of the residents when such large animals circulate within the settlements and we asked for measures to be taken to deal with the problem”. Mr. Savvopoulos argued that with the initiative of the state, he should “run a program that will manage the bear population. As the figures we have in our hands show, they have increased significantly.” The deputy governor put on the discussion table, the issue of sterilization of animals as a measure to control the reproduction of the population “so as not to reach situations that may become uncontrollable in the future”.

Concerned about the exuberant presence of bears in the lakeside villages of Kastoria, Mr. Dimitris Moschos from Polykarpi, Kastoria, owner of the family farming business “Farm Moschos” where the bear repeatedly destroyed the corn, in the 7-acre field that he intended to feed his cattle and sheep. “The bear comes down to the lake to look for food, and the cornfield especially in the season when the cherries, cranberries and wild fruits are scarce is a source of food. Dimitris Moschos is 60 years old, comes from a farming family and as he reports to APE BEE, the population of bears that circulate around the plain where his village is located has nothing to do with the past. “We are small children and we knew that at such a time one or two bears and a cub with them were roaming around our area. Today the picture is completely different. There are many animals and the mother bears also have three or four cubs with them, which was never the case before.”

The above fact is also confirmed by Mr. Nikos Panagiotopoulos from Kastoria Environmental Protection Company who notes that “in recent years more and more he sees mother bears with three or four cubs” while regarding the issue of the population and the appearance of bears in the villages he points out that from the observation cameras placed in various parts of the plain of Kastoria both around the lake as well as outside it, “there are many female animals with their young moving around the settlements and at the same time some males moving alone in search of females”. He explained that the females in their attempt to protect their young from the large males are moving closer and closer to the inhabited settlements.

The brown bear population reached 750 individuals

THE environmental organization “Kallisto” has dedicated its activities in recent years to the protection of wildlife and the unique ecosystems that Greece has. It prepares and implements EU programs concerning the protection of wild life, the smooth coexistence with humans and monitors all the changes occurring in the mountainous countryside over the last 30 years. The organization’s scientific officer and bear-related wildlife expert George Mertzanis, stated that the Immediate Intervention Team established to manage crises regarding the presence of wild animals in residential areas “is monitoring the bear in the area of ​​Dispilio Kastoria and will intervene if necessary” while stating that “a few days ago the bear removal operation ended with her little ones who for a week went down to houses in Florina”. The immediate intervention team, properly equipped, forced the animal away from the settlement and back into the mountain ecosystems. Cattle breeders, farmers and residents of the mountainous countryside say from their experience that the bear population has increased, but they do not have any evidence. Mr. Mertzanis, who deals with bear populations in Greece, agrees with the increase in the population and states that today “we have 750 individuals”, while as an encouraging element that shows the recovery of the bear population, he mentions its appearance in areas outside of Western Macedonia, as in Olympushim Kissavothe Unwritten and its mountains Thesprotia.

At the same time, he advised calm regarding the reactions. He reminded that there is the Immediate Intervention Team in which the Forest Service, the Fire Department, the Police, two environmental organizations and hunting clubs participate to take initiatives while asking the residents “not to approach the animal especially if they find that it has cubs with it because his behavior can become unpredictable.” He explained that “in the animal’s code it is recorded to avoid man because it considers him stronger, despite all that there may be exceptions, depending on the conditions that prevail in the field each time”. He also added that “people should not be misled by the possible ‘friendly’ behavior of the animal and should not forget that the bear cannot behave like a pet”. Mr. Mertzanis was negative on the issue of sterilization raised by the deputy governor of Kastoria and emphasized to APE-MPE that “the proposal has been heard in the past in discussions we have and it has been rejected”. He reminded that the European Directive 9243 that Greece incorporated into its legislation places the bear and the wolf under special protection status.

Commenting on the issue of the rich reproduction of animals observed in recent years, Mr. Mertazanis attributed it to the “oversupply of food” that the bear finds without much effort in the mountainous countryside and also in the arable plains with corn. He advised the people of the local government to “clean up all the dumps where the people of the mountainous areas tend to throw food scraps” as these places act as an attraction in attracting the bear.

His manager Arktorou Alexandros Karamanlidis speaking to APE BEE, he described “as expected for the time” the phenomenon of bears descending on settlements where they know they will find a wide variety of food such as cherries and sorghums that abound throughout the countryside of Western Macedonia. He described the phenomenon as “transient” as the wild animals will then move higher where their habitat is. Mr. Karamanlidis explained that “all over the world wild animals are getting closer and closer to the areas where humans live” and emphasized that “it is not just a Greek phenomenon”. He recalled the existence of the Immediate Intervention Group created with the Ministry of Internal Affairs in 2014 for the management of such issues and regarding the repeated incidents of bears in residential areas of Kastoria noted that Arktouros, for reasons related to its funding, “cannot be located for incident management beyond the geographical area of ​​Florina”.