Bear attacks 5 people, remains on the loose after video shows it running through Slovakia town

Sarah Al-Arshani, USA TODAY

March 19, 2024 at 1:31 p.m.·2 min read

A town in Slovakia issued a warning to residents on Sunday after a bear ran through the city, attacking five people.

The town of Liptovský Mikuláš asked residents to be cautious and not leave residential areas as emergency services worked to track down the brown bear.

The five people injured range in age from 10 to 72, officials said.

Emergency teams were instructed to eliminate the bear, town officials said in a statement on Facebook.

According to statements released on Facebook, officials said the bear spent about 20 minutes in residential areas before moving into the woods. As of midday Tuesday, the bear has yet to be caught, and six armed patrols are ensuring it does not get back into inhabited areas.

Video of the bear circulating online showed the animal moving along a road as pedestrians climbed over a fence to escape.

31-year-old woman died after bear chase

The attacks in Liptovský Mikuláš came just three days after a woman fell to her death trying to escape a bear in a nearby mountain range, rescue officials said.

The 31-year-old Belarussian woman was walking with a man through an area of thick forest and steep ravines in the nearby Low Tatra mountains when they were approached by a bear. The two split up, running in different directions.

Rescue teams with dogs and drones began searching for the two people, authorities reported. The man was found unharmed, and the woman's body was found at the bottom of a ravine.

Improved environmental protection in central and eastern Europe since 1989 has meant that bears have returned to their natural habitats across the region, including in Slovakia, the BBC reported. Slovakia has seen a rise in bear attacks in recent years.

On Sunday, the junior environment minister, Filip Kuffa, shared a draft law to address the concerns and allow bears to be shot outside urban areas under certain conditions, the Guardian reported.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Slovakia bear attacks: Liptovský Mikuláš residents on alert; 5 hurt

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31-year-old woman died after bear chase

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