Bear

Brown Bear (Ursus Arctos)

 

In Slovakia we have around 1500 Eurosiberian Brown Bear (Ursus  arctos arctos). This bear has brown fur with shades from brownish-black to yellowish-brown. Young bears have white collars around their necks. Adults weigh from 140-190 kg, but sometimes can reach up to 360kg.

Bears live in pine and leafy woods high in the mountains where they can find peace and quiet, access to water, food, and good hiding spaces.

 

Lifestyle

Bears are loners, and mark their territory with scratch and bite marks on stones and trees. Males meet females only in mating season, which takes place from May to July. The gestation period lasts for 6.5 to 9 months. Bears are born blind in a winter den. They grow very quickly, but stay with their mum for two years. Females can bare young every two years. The bears hibernate in the middle of December to wait out the winter, but don’t really fall into a heavy sleep, which they sometimes interrupt. During the winter season they use their fat reserves.

 

Food

Bears eat everything - sheep, deer, boar, but they also eat fruit and vegetables. They like to pick at and take out bee and wasp hives as well as anthills. They also eat acorns, oats, berries, etc. Frequently they are brave enough to come close to hotels, and huts to pick their food from rubbish bins.    

 

Hunting Importance

Bears are protected in Slovakia, but for game management purposes around 60 bears are culled yearly. Thanks to this protection, from 1932 onward the numbers of bears has grown yearly. Bears ruin livestock and beekeeping and will attack people, so proper management is important.

Bearskins and skulls are the trophies. The biggest skull trophy is from 1983, and reached 62.61CIC points. The biggest fur was from a bear bagged in 1987, and reached 367.90CIC points.