Abstract
We compiled, summarized and reviewed 338 cases of people killed or injured by brown bears from 1932 to 2017 in Russia, home of about half of the world's brown bears. During the Soviet period, 1932–1990, hunters and outdoor workers were injured/killed by bears more frequently than people engaged in other activities, 28% and 19% among all incidents, respectively. However, after 1991, people who gathered wild resources, hiked or were within human settlements were most affected (22, 16 and 15%, respectively). Single bears were involved in most of the incidents before and after 1991 (76% and 74% of the cases, respectively). In 1991–2017, the post-Soviet period, when data availability was better, bear-caused injuries and fatalities (264 records) occurred more often on the Russian Pacific Coast (111 incidents) and in Siberia (109 incidents) than in European Russia (44 incidents), where human encroachment in bear habitat is higher. During the same period, the percentages of fatalities were not significantly different among the areas; 39% in European Russia, 49% in Siberia and 50% on the Pacific Coast. Casualties occurred mainly during daytime and especially in summer and autumn. In 182 incidents with known probable causes, bears most frequently attacked when provoked or disturbed (38%) and surprised (21%), but 18% of the incidents seemed to reflect bear predatory behavior. Hence, we encourage researchers and wildlife managers to develop educational programs on large carnivore biology and behavior and to better manage human activities in bear country in order to minimize human–bear conflicts in Russia and elsewhere.
Highlights
Large carnivores help maintain biodiversity and ecosystem functions (Ripple et al 2014)
The main objective of our study was to investigate the circumstances associated with brown bear attacks and whether the pattern of the attacks varied across areas of Russia, which has potential implications for the conservation-oriented management of brown bears on the worldwide scale, given the high percentage of the world’s brown bears that inhabit Russia
Since 1991, bears injured/killed people in settlements or in the vicinity of settlements in 40 cases, of which 35% were in Siberia and 53% on the Pacific Coast
Summary
Large carnivores help maintain biodiversity and ecosystem functions (Ripple et al 2014). The great interest in brown bear Ursus arctos attacks demonstrated by the media, has amplified the negative perception of brown bears (Craighead and Craighead 1971) and jeopardizes species management and conservation (Kojola et al 2018). For this reason, numerous studies have analyzed human–brown bear incidents in North America (Shelton 1994, Herrero and Higgins 2003, Penteriani et al 2016, Smith and Herrero 2018) and Europe (Nyholm 1989, Swenson et al 1999, De Giorgio et al 2007, Støen et al 2018), describing factors involved in incidents and their prevention
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