Wounded bear attacks hunter on first day of season

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Monday saw the opening of the bear-hunting season, and the day was barely a few hours old before there was an incident of the prey striking back.
      A hunter was slightly injured early on Monday morning near Kitee in Karelia, when a wounded young male bear atacked him. The man received bites and scratches all over his body.
     
A group of three hunters had set out very early on Monday morning with the intention of filling one of the nine bear-hunting permits available in Central Karelia.
      The young bear, weighing around 100 kilos, was tracked down quickly. The first shots were fired a few minutes after 6 a.m.
      A dog and one of the men then set off to pursue the wounded animal, while the other two men covered the rear and the flanks.
      Roughly three-quarters of an hour later, the dog located the bear, which immediately attacked the accompanying hunter. The hunter fired two shots into the approaching animal, but the bear continued its assault and grabbed the man in a wrestling hold.
      The other two hunters came to the rescue and finished off the bear.
     
As it happens, this sort of situation is by no means that rare. The same sort of incidents occur at least once or twice each hunting season.
      In the period from 2001-2006, a total of 52 brown bears have been culled in the Central Karelian area.
      In spite of the thinning of the bear population, numbers are still increasing. This summer bears have caused a nuisance in the region, particularly to beekeepers.


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