Bears in Eastern Finland waking up from winter sleep

Bears are such a common occurrence in Parikkala that many locals no longer bother to report sightings

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By Leena Härkönen
     
      The landscape is that of an ordinary, somewhat rough forest. There are young saplings in the background, with thick coniferous trees along the unpaved road. Nearby there is a small field, and a house behind it.
      One might never imagine that this is one of the best places in the country to find a bear. There are about 80 bears in the Kymi Game Management District, most of which live in Southern Karelia. In some parts of Parikkala there are more bears than in the other areas.
      "This is where a bear crossed the road a couple of weeks ago", says Tapio Ahokas, pointing to the top of a hill. He is a member of the local hunting association, responsible for monitoring the movement of bears. He has seen bears in the wild dozens of times.
      "It is such an astounding sight that it shakes you whenever it happens."
      On the other hand, he says that now it is almost impossible to see a bear: only its tracks.
     
The movements of bears are followed in a number of ways, including raking unpaved roads to see their tracks more easily. The most likely time to see a bear is in the early hours of the morning while sitting inside a car.
      Nearly all of the bears in the area are awake now after their winter sleep. The first to wake was in nearby Uukuniemi a few weeks ago. They linger near their dens for a week or two, which means that there are no tracks to be seen.
      "A bear will wait until the ground is thawed out before getting on the move", Ahokas says.
      He says that bears are amazing and wise animals. He has plenty of amusing stories of his encounters, including one in which he walked past a bear that was munching beans in a field just ten metres away.
      "The bear sat with his back toward me and didn't notice a thing. I stood there with one foot in the air like a hound, and backed off very carefully."
      Bears in the area have become such an ordinary sight that Ilkka Tiainen, executive director of the Parikkala Game Management Association, says that not every sighting is reported.
      "People do not fear bears, except for mothers with cubs; they really are dangerous, and so are bears guarding a carcass."
      Bears will often spend their winters on the Russian side of the border and return to Parikkala in late April, or early May.
      "Our Alma would come every year on the same day", Tiainen recalls.
     
Bears like the area because the vegetation is lush and there are plenty of ant hills. Stumps in areas where trees have been felled contain delicious grubs. The bears find cultivated berries in the front yards of forest cottages, and they find the best wild blueberry and lingonberry areas. Sometimes they will tear open bales of cattle feed, and the cubs play on top of them.
      The local people generally accept the presence of the bears, partly because they have not hurt domestic animals or attacked people in many years.
      Bear tracks have been seen on many occasions near the house of Hilkka Paakkinen and her son's family.
      However, Paakkinen has only seen bears in pictures, even though she has lived on the farm since 1949.
      "Sure, it's frightening", Paakkinen says, thinking of her grandchildren, but Ahokas is reassuring, explaining the behaviour of the bears.
      The overall sentiment is a desire for peaceful coexistence.
     
Helsingin Sanomat / First published in print 7.4.2005

More on this subject:
 FACTFILE: Retreat with caution

LEENA HÄRKÖNEN / Helsingin Sanomat
leena.harkonen@hs.fi