A brown bear attacked two hikers in the Pollyana Mountains nature reserve in Slovakia on Sunday, a spokesman for the state environmental protection organization SOPSR said. The official told Slovak news agency TASR that the two men deviated from the designated hiking trail outside the residential area.
They were transported by helicopter to hospital in Pieszcz, Spain, with injuries to their faces, hands and legs.
The spokesperson said.
The Slovak Ambulance Service later posted on Facebook that the two men, aged 49 and 39, were conscious during transport. According to the hospital in Piszczraspania, the elderly man suffered several serious injuries, and surgery had to be performed mainly on his face. The young man survived the attack with a less serious shoulder injury.
According to official data, about 1,200 bears live in the wild in Slovakia. At the same time, the coexistence of humans and bears has also become a political issue in Slovakia. The current government in Bratislava wants to significantly ease the strict conditions for shooting bears.
As we reported, bear attacks are increasing in Slovakia, a few weeks ago a bear in Lipótszentmiklós He attacked two peopleA woman was killed and a man was found unharmed. For the next day Increased to five The number of people who were attacked, and then a good ten days later eviction The bear. At the beginning of April Two more bear attacks This brought the number of attacks to 9 this year, while only 12 were reported in 2023.
