{"id":507,"date":"2017-04-05T14:54:30","date_gmt":"2017-04-05T12:54:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/carpathianbear.pl\/?page_id=507\/"},"modified":"2017-06-06T14:13:45","modified_gmt":"2017-06-06T12:13:45","slug":"bears-in-poland","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/carpathianbear.pl\/en\/brown-bear\/bears-in-poland\/","title":{"rendered":"Bears in Poland"},"content":{"rendered":"

Brown bears living in Poland represent a\u00a0small part of the Carpathian population, which currently extends over the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Poland, Ukraine, Romania and Serbia. It is estimated to be over 8000 individuals. Although bears can be found along the Carpathian range, the distribution of breeding females is discontinuous. The population divides into three segments. The western segment covers most of Slovakia, and the Tatra Mountains and Beskid \u017bywiecki in Poland. The largest part of the Carpathian population inhabits the main Carpathian chain and extends from the Bieszczady region (encompassing Bieszczady Mountains and surrounding areas) and Slovakian “Poloniny” through Ukraine and Romania to Serbia. The third segment occupies the Apuseni Mountains in western Romania. The whole Carpathian population has been classified as \u201cvulnerable\u201d (at risk of being endangered); in some regions bears are locally endangered. The whole brown bear population in Poland is transboundary, thus bears are under various protection measures, depending on which side of the border they stay, and ranging from complete protection in Poland to protected, but game\u00a0 species in Slovakia or game species in Ukraine.<\/p>\n

Brown bears, which once were found nearly across all Europe, disappeared from most regions of the continent by end of the 17th century. Already in the beginning of the XIX century, the western and eastern subpopulations of the northern Carpathians become isolated, which is reflected in their current genetic differentiation3. In Poland, after the World War II, bears persisted only in the Tatra and Bieszczady Mountains; their total numbers at that time were estimated in 10-14 individuals. Since then, the population started to recover slowly. According to the report on the conservation status of large carnivores in Europe<\/a><\/span> for the European Commission, the number of bears in the Polish Carpathians was estimated to be 95 individuals in 2007. The most important population was noted in the Bieszczady region (66 individuals) and the second in the Tatra Mountains (12-15 individuals). In other bear refuges their number oscillates from 2 to 5 individuals. This estimation of bear numbers was based on annual questionnaire surveys sent to the Forest Administration and National Parks in areas of bear presence.<\/p>\n

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