Romania launches vast campaign to collect DNA from bears

The bear hunt has started. Announced on July 29 by the Romanian authorities, it is not intended to remove the 6,700 plantigrades living in the Carpathians, but to take their DNA. Romania has the largest number of bears in Europe. According to statistics from the World Wildlife Fund (WWF), of the 18,000 bears living in Europe, almost 40% are in Romania. But if their number can be estimated with good precision, it is difficult to obtain an exact x-ray of this treasure of European fauna. How many males and females? How old are they ? How do they reproduce? What is their state of health? How many of them go down to the villages to get food, and how many stay in their natural habitat?

One barcode per plantigrade

These are all questions to which new technologies will seek to provide an answer, through the genetic imprint that is obtained by analyzing the DNA present in hair and faeces. “DNA fingerprinting is the most reliable method to estimate the bear population”, was enthusiastic on July 29 Barna Tanczos, the Minister of the Environment, Water and Forests. This is the first time in the world that a collection campaign of this magnitude will be carried out on bears. “Each genetic evidence will have a barcode which will allow the information obtained on a DNA database to be digitized”, specified the minister.

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The European Union will finance this project to the tune of 10 million euros. In addition to this complete x-ray of the ursine population, the government plans to open a care center for sick plantigrades, the cost of which is estimated at 2 million euros. More than 60 hectares of forests have been reserved for this project near Brasov, a town located at the foot of the Carpathians, in the center of the country.

Protective legal framework

In recent years, more and more bears have made a habit of descending into villages and towns in search of food. The number of attacks has soared, often claiming lives. In the land of Dracula, the bear is the king of forests and it has multiplied at top speed, taking advantage of a legal framework that makes it untouchable. In 2015, Romania adopted a new law to bring its legislation into line with the European “Habitats” directive, which aims to further protect wildlife. Bear hunting has been banned and poachers face heavy prison sentences.

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