Knives Out for Hungry Bears

For Greeks the tale of the brown bear is a success story run wild. After years of facing extinction, the bears have made such a comeback - following various conservation projects - that fearful locals are now taking up arms to keep them at bay.

Across the region of Epirus, villagers have begun barricading themselves in against a bear population which has doubled in the past 10 years, albeit only from 80 to 160 animals.

Homes, fields and vegetable plots have acquired floodlights and electric fences. In remote villages like Anilio Metsovou, where a woman was found dead in a sheep pen displaying bear-like footprints, herdsmen mount armed patrols.

The problem is that the bears are not just more numerous, but more hungry. Late snows ruined fruit trees planted for the bears across the Pindus.

"People feel defenceless and they've begun to panic," said George Mertzanis, of Arctouros, the bear protection group largely responsible for a successful bear reproduction project. "But bears don't like human meat. This over-reaction is born of ignorance."

In Makrino Zagoriou, villagers found disturbed graves, apparently damaged by ravenous bears grabbing tasty-looking oil lamps. One goat keeper had to chase away a bear going for the farm stock.

Female bears, which lose about 30% of body fat in hibernation, are thought the prime culprits. "There will be more human victims unless something is done," said Costas Ziabiris, of the Epirus Hunters' Federation.

But environmentalists applaud the renaissance of the brown bear, predicted by many 10 years ago to be close to disappearing: the mountains of north Greece had long been home to Europe's largest population of this protected species.

Behind the bears' revival have been various projects: a school awareness campaign, "bear tunnels", and incentives to stop the killing.

"Children who learned about bears have played a great role in changing the attitude of their huntsmen fathers," Mr Mertzanis said. "The big question now is how to manage the success. Bears are friendly... they can easily be deterred without force."