The brown bear in the Bratislava zoo in July 2022. (source: TASR)
Despite a number of bear encounters that have appeared in the media in recent months, experts have ruled out the overpopulation of the brown bear in Slovakia.
A Charles University study of 2,179 fur and droppings samples carried out by Slovak and Czech experts claims that Slovakia is home to 1,056 bears.
Considering the possible statistical deviation, the actual number of bears ranges from 1,012 to 1,275 individuals, the State Nature Conservancy said.
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The preliminary results of brown bear population modelling based on DNA analysis thus confirmed the results of the previous genetic census from 2013 and 2014. The team of experts set an estimate of the West Carpathian bear population at 1,214 individuals.
