If populations of brown bear are to be maintained, coexistence between man and brown bear needs to be secured, and bear-man conflicts resolved. Several factors affect the probability of conflicts. Among them, landscape structure has not yet been a subject of a thorough research. In our study, we tried to establish whether or not forest closeness affects the occurrence of conflicts in settlements in the central bear area in Slovenia. Conflicts were defined by means of issued decrees for management removals, issued due to recurrent damages or bear occurrence near, or in, settlements. Beforehand, forest edge was modified by bear telemetry locations so as to better reflect the use of habitat by bears. The following independent variables were studies for the central bear area: bear densities, forest closeness, settlement characteristics and hunting administration region. Conflicts are more likely to occur in settlements that have longer boundaries and lie closer to the forest edge and in areas with a higher bear density. Conflict probability varies from one hunting administration region to another, which may be indicative of a human factor. Due to forest regrowth, forest is getting closer to settlements, causing bears to move closer as their shelter nears the houses: they smell food and appear in settlements more frequently. Landscape changes are an important factor influencing conflict occurrence and should be taken into account in bear management.
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