LATVIA–There was information on social media that a puffin was awakened from hibernation during forest maintenance work. The Department of Nature Protection (DAP) has started the process of an administrative violation in order to assess deliberate disturbance of a protected species, according to Elīna Ezeriņa, head of the Department of Communication and Nature Education of the DAP.
Brown bears (Ursus arctos) are protected animals throughout the European Union, including Latvia. They once disappeared from Latvia, but in recent years, as a result of targeted and scientifically based decisions and actions, including a hunting ban, the bear population is steadily recovering, reaching the number of 60-70 individuals.
The recently reported case in the media of a bear waking up from hibernation, forcing it to leave the nest with cubs, is sad, but from the point of view of the species’ population, it cannot be assessed as critical, explains Ezeriņa.
DAP IS CURRENTLY AWAITING ALL NECESSARY EXPLANATIONS FROM THOSE INVOLVED IN THE SITUATION, AND THE CASE IS STILL IN THE EXAMINATION PROCESS.
Forest maintenance work in the vicinity of the den was stopped immediately after the discovery of the den. The workers took prompt action to prevent the recurrence of similar situations and additional disturbances for the specific bear family.
INVESTIGATING THE OUTER BOUNDARY OF THE QUARTER, NO FOOTPRINTS OF A WANDERING BEAR WERE FOUND, GIVING UP HOPE THAT THE MOTHER BEARS ARE STAYING NEAR THE BED OR EVEN HAVE ALREADY RETURNED TO IT.
Bears are the most unsociable predators. They live alone, communicating with each other, only leaving behind evidence of marking the territory. The exception is the time of mating and raising young. The individual territory of an adult male bear varies between 500-1300 square kilometers (km2), in some cases reaching up to 4000 km2. Female territories are smaller – from 130-780 km2. In addition, bears are nomads – they change both their living and sleeping places.
Evaluating the living space, active movement and solitary life necessary for bears, it is not possible to create a separate specially protected natural area with constant borders for the protection of this species in Latvia. The existing protected areas with large marshes and forest massifs, such as the Northern Marshes, the Teiču Nature Reserve, already partially provide the necessary living space for bears. There, the human presence is limited, but the animal cannot be “confined” in a certain space. In addition, wild animals do not respect national borders – the living range of the bears listed in Latvia can be presented both in Estonia and in Russia, explains the DAP representative.
Based on the experience of Estonian scientists and nature conservation institutions, rescuing cubs abandoned by mother bears is not effective, because bears fed by humans cannot later become full-fledged wild animals. Due to their changed behavior, they always return to humans in search of food, threatening people and their property. This was also confirmed by Latvia’s experience in recent years with two teenage bears, which showed atypical behavior for the species.
Keeping bears in captivity, on the other hand, is prohibitively expensive. Carrying out detailed calculations, the construction of the aviary necessary for the bear, including all safety and welfare requirements, would cost about 0.5 million euros, in addition, it would also require maintenance of the bear – feeding, veterinary care, general animal work and other costs for 30 years. Since the bear population is growing steadily, bears are not bred in captivity in Estonia either.
Analyzing historical data and Latvian folklore, it can be seen that the bear has been a part of Latvian nature since time immemorial. He felt awe and respect for the bear. It has not been attributed the negative qualities of the wolf and the fox, showing that historically society has been able to live with the presence of this animal.
Taking into account the return of bears to Latvian forests, modern society will also have to learn to live with it, taking the experience from Estonia, where the bear population is stable and ten times larger than the population of Latvian bears, reaching up to 1000 individuals.
Gita Strode, director of the Nature Protection Department of DAP, explains that the claims made by animal protection societies that bear dens should have been inspected and protected to prevent such a situation are false and confusing to the public. There are both humans and animals in nature, and the encounter between these two species is inevitable. Bears build their dens in a different place from year to year, it is impossible to identify them in advance and define a protection zone – a bear den can be on public land, on private property, in a specially protected natural area, or outside it.
DAP draws attention to the fact that a puffin disturbed from hibernation can become aggressive while protecting its nest and young, therefore, according to the recommendations of leading experts, neither foresters, nor researchers, nor DAP employees or other interested parties are allowed to go to the specific forest area until May.
In everyday life, the bear is not aggressive, it avoids meeting with people. To prevent the possibility of a bear visiting your homestead, you need to carefully consider composting sites and waste management. Garbage should be kept in closed containers, without creating a situation where people themselves provoke wild animals to come to the farms. Food leftovers or fields left in the forest
and in farms near the forest, easily available fruits and vegetables are regularly piled up, it can cause not only the bear, but also other wild animals to perceive the human farm as a place for food.
To avoid encountering a bear, you should stay on the forest paths and roads while walking, people should not disturb other nature lovers and forest dwellers with their behavior, but occasionally climb a branch, speak or sing, and also carefully observe the nature around them in order to the presence of the animal could be noticed in time. If you happen to cross an impenetrable place in the forest, then you should make your presence felt.
If a person has spotted a bear, do not approach it, try to catch up with it or touch the animal or its cubs. It is possible to leave the meeting place as quickly as possible, but not running. The bear does not need to turn its back, so it is necessary to retreat backwards. Be quiet until the animal goes on its way.
