A brown bear attacked and injured a Hungarian hunter in Transylvania, Romanian news agency Agerpres reported. A party of ten was hunting for wild boar when one them was attacked, spokesman for Hargita/Harghita county told the news agency. Some of other hunters discharged their rifles in the air and scared the animal away, he said. The man was taken to the Székelyudvarhely/Odorheiu Secuiesc hospital where he received treatment for the wounds on his neck, left arm, shoulder and received surgery for his broken shoulder and was released afterwards.
In earlier years, the Romanian Ministry of Environment and Climate Change authorized hunters to shoot 400-450 bears a year to keep the population under control, but has issued no such permits since. According to a 2018 estimate there are some 6,600 brown bears (Ursus arctos arctos) in Romania, mostly in the Carpathian mountains. Their diet consists mostly of berries and grass and will only attack humans when startled or cornered. As their numbers are increasing they do, however, forage for food even in smaller settlements.
