Greenpeace Files Complaint with EU Against Slovak Bear Culls

Greenpeace on Thursday said it had filed a complaint with the European Union against Slovakia over bear culling near its border with Poland. The Slovak government approved the culling of 350 Carpathian brown bears in April, citing dangers to humans as well as rising bear populations. Greenpeace "has filed a complaint ... against the Slovak government as these bear shootings occur very close to the border with Poland," where this animal is protected, Katarzyna Bilewska, Greenpeace's spokeswoman in Poland told AFP on Thursday.

Bears "very often cross the border with Slovakia. The Slovak government's decision to proceed with mass bear culling... threatens the population of this species living in Poland," numbering around 130, according to Aleksandra Wiktor, an activist from Greenpeace Poland. "Bears do not understand the concept of borders," she said. Poland officially requested Slovakia to refrain from culling bears at least within a 30-kilometre (19-mile) border zone but this has gone unheeded.

Slovakia is obliged to follow a European Union directive which only allows bear culling when they cause material damage or threaten human life, and only when no other solution is applicable. Around 20 attacks have been recorded since the beginning of the year in Slovakia, resulting in several injuries. Slovakia has a population of between 1,000 and 1,275 bears, according to official figures. Ninety-two bears were culled last year and another 160 this year in the EU member country of 5.4 million inhabitants.