Conflicts between men and the brown bear (Ursus arctos) can have serious consequences for people as well as bears, therefore efficient management of the species is of major importance. The only possibility for a long term preservation of the brown bear in the cultural landscape is coexistence with humans which can be facilitated by diminishing the frequency of conflicts between the species. Analysis and understanding of past human-bear conflicts is thus crucial for efficient management of the bear in the future. In this study the conflict events between a man and the brown bear between the years 2008 and 2009 as well as the issued decrees for management removal of conflict bears from between the years 2005 and 2009 in Slovenia were analyzed. The conflict events were documented by a brown bear emergency team (intervention group) and the list of issued management removals was gathered from a Slovenian environmental agency. Data was analyzed and compared to relative density of the brown bear population in Slovenia. It was estimated that both conflict events and issued decrees for management removals are not dependent on the density of the bear population. Analysis showed that response on reports of conflict events isn't standardized: responses of the intervention group on the same type of event differed from case to case, which can be problematic because of the uncertainty in credibility of the intervention group as well as of the use of the gathered data for better understanding of conflict behavior of the brown bear in time. It was also found that the conflict events and consequentially the issued decrees for management removal of conflict bears appear is negatively correlated with natural sources of food. An important result of the invested work is also a protocol for response when conflicts between man and the brown bear in Slovenia are reported. The most common reason for conflicts seems to be venturing of bears towards the areas of human dwellings.
|
