Romania's Parliament on Monday approved the hunting of nearly 500 locusts this year in a bid to control the protected animal species' „overpopulationAccording to the Ministry of Environment, Romania is home to Europe's largest population of brown bears outside Russia - 8 000. In the last 20 years, bears have mauled 26 people and seriously injured 274 others, the ministry reported earlier this year.

After a young hiker was fatally mauled on a popular trail in Romania's Carpathian Mountains, Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu summoned lawmakers from their summer vacation to an extraordinary session of parliament.

Parliament passed a law aimed at controlling the brown bear population and observed a minute's silence in memory of the 19-year-old hiker.
The law passed on Monday allows for the eradication of 481 bears in 2024, up from 220 last year.

Lawmakers said the bears' „overpopulation“ has led to an increase in bear attacks, but acknowledged that the law will not prevent future attacks. Environmental organisations condemned the measure. "The law solves absolutely nothing," Calin Ardelean, a biologist at the World Wildlife Fund (WWF), told AFP, arguing that the focus should be on prevention and intervention, as well as on so-called 'problem bears'.
According to WWF Romania, hunting will not solve the problem unless measures are taken to prevent bears from entering settlements, such as better waste management or preventing people from feeding the animals.

Romanian authorities said last week that in 2023 they had received around 7 500 emergency calls reporting bear sightings, double the number of the previous year.