Reports emerge of brown bear roaming forests near Prague

In days gone by bears were indigenous to the Czech Republic, but unlike in neighboring Slovakia, they all but disappeared from the wild in the 17th and 18th centuries. Requiring a habitat of large un-spoilt forest areas which are becoming increasingly scarce in the Czech lands, now bears only reside in the country in captivity.

A warning from the Bohemian-Moravian Hunters Union to citizens living near Brandýs nad Labem - Stará Boleslav that a brown bear could be roaming the local forests will therefore have taken local residents by surprise. The Union says the information is still unverified but comes from a credible source.

“We have received trustworthy reports, not yet verified by any other source, that a bear is moving in the area around the village of Hlavenec, north of Brandýs nad Labem - Stará Boleslav,” the Union said on its Facebook page.

The Nature and Landscape Protection Agency, which cares for protected wildlife in the Czech Republic, as yet has no information about the bear. “If there really is a bear, it would have be from captivity, not from the wild,” said spokesperson Karolína Šulová.

The Hunters Union claims the possibility of a lone migrating bear reaching the extensive pine forests near Prague cannot be ruled out either. They ask any hunters who see the animal to report it; but reiterate that so far, the presence of the bear is unconfirmed.

The police said they do not yet have any information about the animal’s movement. “The Hunters Union have not yet made any requests for possible cooperation if they want to look for the bear,” said a spokesperson.

Anyone who sees the bear should either contact either the Hunters Union or the Nature and Landscape Protection Agency.