Slovakia backs cull of 350 bears after man killed

The Slovak government has approved the shooting of 350 bears this year after a rising number of attacks by the brown bears, whose population has grown over the past several years, Prime Minister Robert Fico says.

The central European country is home to a bear population in its many mountain areas, numbering between 1000 and 3000 according to different estimates.

Last week, a bear killed a 59-year-old man who was out walking near the central town of Detva, Slovak media reported, the latest in a string of attacks on people over the past several years.

"We cannot live in a country where people are afraid to go to the forest, where people become food for bears," Fico said at a media briefing.

The environment ministry has said it planned to follow the example of Romania, which has used quotas and more than doubled the number of bears allowed to be killed to 481 last year.

Last year, Slovakians shot 144 bears, a rise from single-digit numbers in the previous years.

Environment Minister Tomáš Taraba said bear attacks on humans have been on the rise and reached 1900 last year.

with AP