Bears are increasing rapidly in Lithuania
In recent weeks, there have been an increasing number of reports of bear sightings in Lithuania. Border guards guarding the border with Belarus have repeatedly seen bears in Varėna, Švenčionys, Prienai, Druskininkai and Vilnius districts, and recently a bear wandered the streets of the capital city for several days.
On 28 May, at 7 pm, the bear was seen in the town of Vilnius. At 7:30 on 28 May, border guards at the Kabeliai border crossing spotted a bear through the border surveillance system. The site is located in Varėnos district, in the territory of the Čepkelių Nature Reserve, on the border with Belarus. On both sides of the border there is a ravine. This was the bear that was immediately spotted by the border guards coming from Belarus. It did not stay at the border long and went to the interior of Lithuania.
A day earlier, border guards from the Padvarionys checkpoint in Šalčininkai district also observed another bear. It emerged from a scrubby forest on the Lithuanian side and snuck along a physical barrier and wandered along the path patrolled by the Padvarionys border guards. After a minute, the lepechko turned back towards Lithuania.
A week later, the Lithuanian Hunters and Fishermen's Society reported that a brown bear had been spotted in the forests 20 km from Kaunas. The animal appeared at a game-baiting site set up by hunters and was caught on the cameras installed there. The site is located in the Mikalinė forest, Prienai district, 12 km from Prienai and about 20 km from Kaunas. It was wondered whether only the bear was heading towards Kaunas.
A bear was recorded at a similar time in the village of Igliškėliai in Marijampolė district and in the forest of Pāli.
On 4 June, on the border with Belarus, near Druskininkai, a bear was recorded entering Lithuania on the Nemunas River. At around 23:00, officers of the Kapchiamiescis Firewall spotted a bear near the village of Gerdašiai, using the video surveillance system that monitors the border with Belarus in the middle of the Nemunas River and its approaches. The bear waded into the river in the dark on the Belarusian bank and started swimming. After crossing the border in the Nemunas and crossing a river more than 50 metres wide, it landed on the Lithuanian bank and headed towards the forest.
On 14–15 June, the bear was spotted in Vilnius, in front of cars, just in the busy streets. The animal was said to be very frightened.
Farmers say that the number of bears in Lithuania will increase in the future, and that encounters with them may already be increasing.
Based on the republican press
