Hunters in Rencēni get permit to kill bear that raided rural homes
Latvia's Nature Conservation Agency has issued a special permit to kill a bear in Rencēni parish, Valmiera municipality. Residents reported ruined beehives and broken-open chicken pens this summer.
The Nature Conservation Agency (DAP), the Latvian state body responsible for nature protection, has issued a special permit to kill a bear in Rencēni parish, in Valmiera municipality. The permit went to local hunters from Rencēni. The decision followed a summer of damage at rural homesteads, which the local municipality reported to the agency.
What happened this summer
In the Rencēni and Ēvele parishes of Valmiera municipality, many rural households had to deal with a bear. At some properties the animal came back more than once. The visits left beehives destroyed and chicken pens broken open. The bear's frequent appearances in farmyards also caused residents added concern.
The municipality's response
The municipality gathered the reports it received from residents about the damage and about the animal's repeated visits to yards. It then turned to DAP and asked it to resolve the situation. As a result, permission to kill the specific animal was issued to the Rencēni hunters.
It has not been specified when or how the permit will be used. What is clear is that the decision concerns one particular animal that prompted complaints in Rencēni and Ēvele parishes, not bears in general.
