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| Zoomer bears aren't afraid. Why do predators approach people and what can be done about it? | ||
| 2026-09-04 | ||
| Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited by Elizaveta Novikova [REGNUM] According to the news, Russia is experiencing a real invasion of bears, which have begun to openly compete with people for living space. Aggressive predators even disrupted Knowledge Day. On September 1, in the Slyudyansky District of the Irkutsk Region, all festive assemblies and celebrations were moved indoors. Furthermore, a curfew was imposed in the district from 9:00 PM to 7:00 AM, and all outdoor public events were temporarily banned. Because curious animals can appear and attack at any moment—after the tragedy in Altai, when a man-eating bear dragged a woman from a tourist camp and killed her, such encounters are no longer considered a "reason to remove content." Videos of a mother bear with cubs hopping along the road, or animals inspecting garbage dumps, wandering the streets, seizing garden plots, or attacking others appear almost daily from various regions. Even in the Moscow region, they appeared for the first time in 80 years; they are often seen, for example, by residents of the Shakhovsky district. The Russian Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment confirms that the brown bear population in the country has more than doubled since 1990, reaching nearly 308,000 individuals. Siberia and the Far East traditionally have the largest populations of bears in Russia. Among the leading regions are Krasnoyarsk Krai, Khabarovsk Krai, Kamchatka, and Irkutsk Oblast. But it's not just about numbers: the key problem today is that animals have lost their fear of humans, and something needs to be done about this.
First, let's finish sorting out the numbers. Experts' opinions on this matter differ: many believe that there are even more bears than in official reports. Alexander Savchenko, head of the Department of Hunting Resource Studies and Nature Conservation at Siberian Federal University, believes that government agencies are actually underreporting, although the figures are generally close to reality. "There are no perfect methods; there's always a margin of error, and it's mitigated mathematically," he says. For specialists, assessing the situation over large areas with a difference of 2,000-3,000 individuals is irrelevant; monitoring long-term trends is more important. In turn, Mikhail Krechmar, a game warden and specialist in conflicts between large predators and humans and a candidate of biological sciences, clarifies that any census of large mammals—bears, elk, wild boar, deer—always has an error of 25% in either direction. "If we have a figure of 100,000, then 75,000 and 125,000 would be credible. And each proponent of their point of view can appeal to either the maximum or the minimum—and they won't be lying. Very convenient," he explains in an interview with Regnum News Agency. According to Kretschmar, government agencies use data provided to them by regions and hunting grounds, but these figures “are absolutely average.” There are currently no comprehensive studies on bear ecology in Russia, so it would be a perfectly reasonable decision to always assume that there are more bears (and to be prepared for the possibility of encountering them everywhere). WHY DO THEY COME OUT TO PEOPLE? Now about the most important thing: why brown bears are increasingly appearing near housing. And there is no single reason here – there is a whole complex of them. The first and most obvious ones stem from population growth. When a population increases, animals become overcrowded. Young individuals migrate to new territories, including areas previously uninhabited. Alexander Savchenko explains that this is a consequence of intraspecies competition. Older males defend their territory, displacing younger ones. Clashes between them are violent. In a new location, the animals simply don't know where to find food, so they often venture into human habitats in search of sustenance. Furthermore, the large number of aggressive conflicts between animals fighting for territory leads to serious injuries, including jaw injuries. These injuries, in turn, contribute to the spread of parasitic infestations—in some areas, trichinosis infection rates among bears reach 30–50% or more. And this greatly influences behavior, turning normally secretive predators into unpredictably dangerous animals. The disease causes severe intoxication, fever, and acute pain. Due to weakness, high fever, and pain, the bear loses the ability to hunt normally. "If animals are injured, they can't find food properly and turn to people. By winter, the number of animals that haven't accumulated enough fat increases; they invade villages, destroy hunters' huts, and become extremely dangerous. Now they're either killed or die of exhaustion. It's a vicious cycle!" the expert says. The second reason is the state of the food supply. In some regions, such as the Tomsk region or the Sochi area, experts report a shortage of natural food: dry summers, poor berry and nut harvests, and forest fires are forcing predators to seek food elsewhere. The third factor is the availability of human food. The Ministry of Natural Resources directly cites this as one of the main reasons why animals lose their fear of humans. Unauthorized dumps and food scraps at tourist campsites, summer cottages, apiaries, and farms develop a habit in bears to come after easy prey. The animal begins to associate humans with food. Gamekeeper Mikhail Krechmar is even more categorical: "It's the accessibility of garbage dumps and landfills to animals that creates the basis for 90% of conflicts. The animals feed on them, begin to view them as their property, and attack approaching humans." According to him, this applies not only to bears, but also to stray dogs, foxes and raccoon dogs. Finally, the lack of habit of viewing humans as a threat also plays a role. Bear hunting is a licensed activity, with strictly limited hunting periods (as is the license validity period), and shooting female bears with cubs and animals under one year of age is prohibited. By comparison, in the Soviet Union, hunting season lasted until the end of February, guns could be purchased from the age of 14, and hunters were dropped off by helicopter at remote hunting grounds. A conflict bear could be shot without permission, according to a document, and not only by game inspectors, but also by ordinary hunters, who then simply reported to the hunting department. Licenses were inexpensive: 50 rubles in Siberia, 70 in other regions. A special agency kept records, and, for example, in 1970, over 1,600 forestry enterprises participated in the census. Now, all bears in Russia are, so to speak, "zoomers"—their average lifespan in the wild is about 20–25 years; they no longer remember the days of commercial hunting and simply don't expect any danger from humans. One way or another, it all comes down to the fact that the sudden appearance of a dangerous beast in places that were always considered safe should now be considered a constant – and one should be prepared for it. THE BEAST ATTACKS There are no official statistics on bear attacks on people in Russia—a fact acknowledged by both local authorities and experts themselves. There is no separate record of such incidents, and the data is fragmented. The picture has to be pieced together from media reports, local authorities, and game managers. According to preliminary estimates, there have been 17 attacks in the country since the beginning of 2026, with 11 people injured and six killed. However, these figures should be treated with caution—some incidents may not be publicly reported, while others, on the contrary, may be unconfirmed. Mikhail Krechmar, speaking with Regnum News Agency, cites a different figure: according to his data, 20 fatalities have been recorded in the country since the beginning of the year. He emphasized that the typical number of brown bear attacks in Russia ranges from 30 to 80 per year. However, the events of recent weeks have pushed people to take countermeasures. A resident of the village of Artybash in Altai, where a bear emerged from the forest and mauled a 29-year-old tourist, reported on social media: "It's the dead of night now, and this is the quietest night we've had on Lake Teletskoye, because we've imposed a curfew from 8 p.m. to 7 a.m. Today is the first day. There are four patrols here shooting bears." A state of high alert has been declared in the Turochak district, with police and hunters patrolling villages around the clock. Over the past two days, they have killed 12 bears near Artybash and Iogach. However, attacks continued at the end of August and in the first days of September. On August 30, a bear attacked a pensioner in the Kemerovo region. The woman was hospitalized, and a local police officer shot the bear. On August 31, two hunters were injured in Kamchatka and evacuated by air ambulance. On September 1, in Novokuznetsk, a bear attacked an elderly woman near a gardening community. IS THERE A WAY OUT? There is no single solution yet on how to stop this, although specific steps are already being proposed. Biological Doctor Alexander Savchenko believes that we should start by changing hunting regulations. Remove bears from the list of licensed species, extend the general hunting period to include January, and increase the individual hunting period per license from 30 days to three to four months.
While formal limits and quotas remain in place, they're not actually enforced. In 2025, hunters harvested only 30% of the permitted amount. In Yakutia and Altai, the figure was 10-11%. This is because hunting has become unprofitable: the meat is often contaminated, the pelt doesn't pay for the cost of dressing, and permits are issued for only 30 days. Savchenko adds that on leased lands, the owners themselves are jacking up prices: in Siberia, a permit costs from 15,000 rubles, and in the European part, up to 80,000. "As hunters say, 'I don't need a bear for free: the meat is risky, often infected with trichinosis, and needs to be brought out of the taiga and inspected; the pelt—dressing it alone costs more than selling it; paws and bile—there's no organized market today.' And most importantly, bear hunting is difficult, expensive, and carries a certain amount of risk," adds Savchenko. Gamekeepers also face problems: in some regions, they can't legally purchase the powerful weapons needed for hunting, and the training system is in disarray—there are only three or four game management institutes left in the entire country. Graduates receive meager salaries, and the profession has become unprestigious. Trophy hunting is a separate category. In Kamchatka, hunters have been shooting the largest males for decades, disrupting the population structure. In the wild, such males maintain a territory and prevent young from breeding, and without them, the number of aggressive individuals increases. Mikhail Krechmar, for his part, doubts that such changes are sufficient. The expert emphasizes that bears were a commodity in Soviet times, but now no one wants them, and it's difficult to persuade hunters to hunt them. But it is quite possible to solve the problem of landfills. According to Kretschmar, it is precisely garbage dumps accessible to animals that form the basis for 90% of conflicts. Therefore, it is imperative to immediately eliminate illegal dumps, fence off waste sites, and promptly remove waste from tourist camps and summer cottages. Well, citizens should think about how to protect themselves and repel animals that are afraid of sudden loud noises, fire, explosions, and pepper spray—there are plenty of such products available over the counter. But without a systematic approach that takes into account all components of the “bear problem,” it will not be resolved and unpleasant encounters will continue. | ||
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