Μake us preferred on Google A young female brown bear was shot and killed inside Greece’s Prespa National Park, prompting calls for an investigation into the latest case of suspected poaching.
The animal, estimated to be about two years old and weighing more than 60 kilograms (132 pounds), was discovered dead near the village of Vrontero, in the Municipality of Prespes, on the morning of Tuesday, October 27.
According to an announcement by environmental organization Kallisto, the park’s management authority and the Management Unit for Prespa National Park and Protected Areas of Western Macedonia, which operates under Greece’s Natural Environment and Climate Change Agency (NECCA), were alerted by a visitor who found the bear.
Representatives of the management unit, the Florina Forestry Directorate and Kallisto went to the site. A private veterinarian was also called to examine the animal and determine the cause of death.
Three gunshot wounds found
The examination revealed three bullet wounds on the bear’s left side. Two were located on its left thigh and were not fatal. The third, lower down on the abdomen, caused extensive internal bleeding and ultimately killed the animal.
The circumstances of the shooting led investigators to estimate that the bear had been killed from a relatively short distance.
Kallisto said the area where the animal was found is an important ecological corridor used by bears moving between Greece and Albania.
The organization stressed that killing a bear constitutes a serious environmental crime and that every such incident must be investigated by the competent authorities and the courts.
Despite conservation measures introduced in recent years, cases of illegal hunting continue to be recorded and remain among the major threats to the survival of brown bears in Greece, it said.
Brown bears are strictly protected by law
The brown bear is protected under Greek, European and international legislation. Both the species and its habitat are covered by Greece’s Forest Code, the EU Habitats Directive (92/43/EEC), the Bern Convention and the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES), also known as the Washington Convention.
The killing or injury of a bear is a criminal offense.
Prespa Park is part of a cross-border conservation project
Prespa National Park is one of the areas participating in the European LIFE DinPin Bear project, which aims to establish a coordinated, population-wide conservation strategy for brown bears across the Dinaric Alps and Pindus mountain ranges.
In Greece, the project is being implemented by Kallisto and NECCA. It brings together 20 organizations from nine countries in southeastern Europe: Albania, North Macedonia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Greece, Kosovo, Croatia, Montenegro, Serbia and Slovenia.
The participating organizations include universities and research institutions, national and local authorities, and environmental groups.
The initiative seeks to protect brown bears over the long term by addressing habitat fragmentation, improving the management of human-bear interactions and strengthening cooperation between countries on monitoring and conservation.
It also aims to involve and support local communities, which the project identifies as essential to achieving sustainable coexistence between people and wildlife.
