Hunters kill two young bears in Tartu County

Hunters killed two young bears in Tartu County on Sunday with permission from the Environment Board, ERR reports. The bears had been captured and taken into the forest at least five times this summer and chased away from homes dozens of times.

The animals had lost their natural behaviour after being fed by people, the Environment Board said. No hunting permit for nuisance animals was issued. Under the Animal Protection Act, the bears were treated as helpless animals that could no longer survive independently in the wild.

The bears had repeatedly damaged residential yards, and returning them to the wild had proved impossible. In such cases, the law allows killing as a last resort.

Tanel Türna, head of the Environment Board’s hunting and aquatic life department, said the bears had returned to settlements despite repeated attempts to take them into the forest and drive them away from homes. Most recently, they entered the yard of a house two days before they were killed.

According to Türna, the young bears first entered a settlement in early June in Kõnnu village in Kastre Parish. There were four bears at the time. Two are believed to have returned to normal bear behaviour, while the two fitted with ear tags and GPS tracking devices continued returning to settlements despite being taken to forests in several parts of Estonia.

Last weekend, the two bears broke into beehives near a house and repeatedly entered outbuildings. The homeowner also took them back to the forest, but without success.

Türna said bears of this age should fear people and find food independently in the wild rather than continually return to settlements.

Before taking the final measure, the Environment Board contacted zoos and wildlife parks, but they had no room for the bears. The board urged people not to seek contact with wild animals and never to feed them.

Türna warned that although the bears are still young and relatively small, they will be large next year and could pose a serious danger if they continue seeking contact with people.

Estonia is currently estimated to have about 1,100 bears.