(source: Oliver Ondráš, TASR)
A mother bear with two cubs was a new attraction for tourists in the village of Starý Smokovec in the High Tatras during last weekend. Fearing for the life of her offspring, endangered by another adult bear, she looked for shelter in the village. On Friday, May 5, she found it in a tree in the village-centre. The bear family stayed there for 12 hours. In the evening they went back into the forest but on Sunday, May 7, they returned. This time they sat down in the centre near the local tram railway.
Fortunately, the story of the bear family has a happy ending, at least for now. Nature protectionists succeeded in moving the bears with the help of their Polish colleagues.
“We lured them with fish and moved them to the forest in one of the Tatra valleys,” said Pavol Majko, head of the Tatra National Park administration, as quoted by the Korzár daily.
Majko added that he is glad that the story of the bear family has such a happy ending.
“It looked for a moment that we would have to kill her,” said Majko.
Now nature protectionists will watch to see whether the bear family will manage to settle down in their new home. They will do so with help of a satellite collar which they mounted around the neck of the mother-bear. She also got a name - Inga. This is the name which Slovaks mark on May 8.
