[Regnum] In recent years, bear tracks have increasingly been found near populated areas in the Moscow region. This may be due to an increase in the animal population in neighboring regions, the Moscow Region Ministry of Ecology and Nature Management reported on October 18.
"In recent years, cases of bear activity being detected near populated areas in the Moscow region have become more frequent," the agency's press service told RIA Novosti.
The agency added that this may be due to the growing bear population in regions neighboring the Moscow region. In the Tver region, the species' population increased from 3,000 in 2013 to approximately 5,000 in 2025; in the Smolensk region, from 500 to 2,380; and in the Yaroslavl region, from 650 to 1,300.
In August, rescuer and coordinator of the LizaAlert search and rescue team, Oleg Leonov, in an interview with the Regnum news agency, advised raising your hands when encountering a bear, since a person with their hands raised is much taller, and the animal always takes into account the size of the person standing in front of it.
Recently, in several Russian regions, there has been an increase in the number of bears entering public spaces and attacking people and pets. On October 14, for example, a bear attacked a cow in a pasture near a highway in Khakassia. The cow tried to escape. The driver honked the horn, but the bear did not retreat.