Romania's Bear Problem

A brown bear killed a man at the weekend in the heart of Romania's central city of Brasov. The incident happened slap bang in the center, near the medieval town square, the area's main tourist attraction. In the rush for revenge, local hunters killed a bear immediately afterwards -- only to learn that the beast they had shot was the wrong one, since it had no trace of human tissue in its stomach.

The hunters' failure to punish the real culprit may be excusable since the city's mayor said there are no less than 45 bears roaming freely on the Tampa Hill, in the middle of the city. The mayor told local residents that there shouldn't be more than 20 bears in the area. In the city center!

Exactly why the old town would become safer when threatened only by 20 bears as opposed to the current 45, the mayor didn't say.

-- Eugen Tomiuc