Rising bear encounters deepen Estonia’s hunting dispute

Reports of close encounters with bears are increasing in Estonia, as hunters blame conservation activists for restricting hunting and activists say people do not know how to deal with nuisance bears. ERR’s investigative programme Pealtnägija examined the dispute over who is making the problem worse.

Estonia’s brown bear population has grown from an estimated 500 to 600 when the country joined the European Union to about 1,100 today, despite hunting, said Aimar Rakko, head of hunting policy at the Climate Ministry. He said annual hunting had been kept within the population’s growth, helping prevent damage and maintain public acceptance of bears.

But the population count itself is contested. Activist Eleri Lopp and University of Tartu zoologist Egle Tammeleht said Estonia lacks a reliable, scientifically confirmed count. Official figures are based on monitoring female bears with cubs and used to estimate annual population growth, currently put at 150 to 200 bears. They questioned the method, saying it may not account for cub deaths and could count the same mother and cubs repeatedly.

Tammeleht said a more accurate count would require a way to identify individual bears, such as genetic testing, radio transmitters or ear tags.

Videos and reports show bears raiding beehives and cornfields, entering yards and climbing onto verandas. Marko Vinni, an adviser to the Estonian Hunters’ Society, and Rakko said the increase in footage may partly reflect the wider use of mobile phones and surveillance and trail cameras. They also said bears, particularly young ones, may be running short of territory and food in the forest.

The programme also pointed to damage recorded by the Environmental Board as one measure of the issue. Farmers and beekeepers can receive compensation for losses caused by bears.