In recent days, we have witnessed a wave of hostility directed at bear biologist Robert Gatzka – a man whose work has long served both people and wildlife with unconditional dedication, expertise, and integrity. We strongly condemn this online abuse, driven by haters and not based on facts.
Robert Gatzka, born in Chorzów, is a biologist who graduated at the Ruhr University Bochum, Faculty of Biology and Biotechnology (Germany). He completed his master thesis in 2012 on the physiology of European bison. In 2015, he moved permanently to Bieszczady as a member of the brown bear research team to take part in the GLOBE project (Global climate change and its impact on brown bear populations), an international project focused on the Carpathian and Scandinavian brown bear populations led by the Institute of Nature Conservation of the Polish Academy of Sciences. Since then, he has been a member of the Carpathian Brown Bear Project. Robert has participated also in several projects related to brown bear genetic monitoring. He currently participates in the EU-funded project CoCo project (Co-creating coexistence: Advancing policies, practices, and stakeholder engagement for integrating wildlife and livestock into sustainable multi-functional landscapes in Europe).
Robert was responsible for extensive fieldwork in the eastern Carpathian population. His work has included monitoring GPS-collared bears, collecting biological samples from captured, dead and monitored individual bears, conducting field analysis of day beds and winter dens, managing camera-traps across the region, and participating in interventions, involving orphaned, sick and dead bears, among many other tasks. He has also been involved in the genetic monitoring of brown bears and the long-term monitoring of beechnut production, a crucial food for bears which has been shown to affect the level of damage caused by bears. He has been also carrying out field observations to assess the implementation of protection measures and develop best-practice guidelines. Robert has accumulated more than a decade of field experience with brown bears in Bieszczady.
For years, Robert Gatzka has done the difficult, often invisible work that truly makes a difference. He educates communities, conducts talks and meetings with local residents, shares knowledge, responds to incidents, monitors conditions in the field, and takes practical steps, such as securing waste, to reduce human-bear conflict. In the last years, he has been deeply involved in addressing the ongoing issue of unsecured garbage and bears approaching villages in search of human food waste. Robert has worked intensively on designing bear-proof containers that can be efficiently handled by municipal waste collection companies, in close collaboration with them. In this moment, while many people are enjoying the May holiday weekend, and others are just sitting in social media spreading hate and targeting Robert with insinuations, mockery, or nationalist undertones, he is working in the field installing bear-proof containers.
Some voices have chosen not to engage with facts, evidence, or reasoned argument. Instead, they rely on manipulation, defamation, stirring negative emotions and amplifying fear. Such behavior does not solve problems. It worsens them. It replaces thoughtful discussion with outrage, and complexity with simplistic blame. Targeting an individual has no place in a serious public conversation.
People like Robert Gatzka deserve better -not because they are beyond question, but because they have earned respect through years of meaningful contribution. Supporting Robert Gatzka means insisting that those difficult conversations about wildlife management must be grounded in facts, not fueled by anger or opportunism. It means valuing the people who show up, do the work, and remain committed even under pressure.
Personal attacks and political exploitation of tragedy serve no one.
Kamil Bartoń
Carlos Bautista
Teresa Berezowska-Cnota
Katarzyna Chrząścik
Danuta Frydryszak
Alberto García-Rodríguez
Djuro Huber
Maciej Konopiński
Agnieszka Olszańska
Aida Parres
Nuria Selva
Agnieszka Sergiel
Filip Zięba
Tomasz Zwijacz-Kozica