An encounter with a brown bear ended badly for a forest worker in Slovakia with several broken bones. The incident occurred in a densely overgrown forest in the municipality of Kvacany, far from inhabited areas, a spokeswoman for the state nature conservation organization SOPSR told the TASR news agency. “The bear ran into the forest worker on a narrow forest path in steep terrain,” said the spokeswoman. The 35-year-old then fell down the slope and suffered broken ribs and bruises.
Social Democrat Parliament Speaker Peter Pellegrini, who is running in Saturday’s presidential election, announced that a special session of Parliament would be scheduled for Tuesday. The reason is the recent increase in clashes between brown bears and people. “The state must first and foremost protect the lives and health of people and only then that of predators,” Pellegrini told the news agency.
At the weekend, a mushroom hunter and a hiker were attacked and injured by bears. In mid-March, a bear that strayed into the urban area of the small town of Liptovsky Mikulas injured five people.
