Last Wednesday night, a bear perished in a sling trap in the Eastern Carpathian Mountains. Only three weeks ago, staff of EuroNatur partner Milvus had succeeded to free another bear from another trap not far away from this site. This time however, rescue unfortunately came too late.
The young female bear got caught by the head, the sling trap producing deep wounds to her throat. According to the staff of the Romanian nature protection association Milvus, she presumably died from suffocation. Sling traps cause a cruel death, as animals strangle themselves when trying to break free.
Poaching is still a big problem in Romania. Usually, poachers lay out the traps for boar, but other animals also get trapped time and again. According to official records of the Romanian authorities, two bears get killed because of poaching on average every year. However, Csabas Domokos, project leader at Milvus, is concerned: "Now we've had two bears in only three weeks that got caught in sling traps of poachers".
Trappers scarcely risk anything, as it is very difficult to convict the offenders. The more important it is to detect and remove the deadly traps in time.
EuroNatur supports Milvus in their efforts to protect the bears. Also in other countries such as Spain and Croatia, EuroNatur cooperates with its local partners in the elaboration of strategies to fight poaching.
Read more about EuroNatur activities for the protection of brown bears