[imagesource:pixabay/ammbquin]

A German eco-activist who travelled to Poland to prove that loggers had forced a bear out of its den was attacked by the very same animal trying to protect its home.

Described by the Polish authorities as an “irony of fate,” the bear emerged from its den and proceeded to scare the activists away from its home by chasing them through the forest.

The German protester had travelled to Poland’s Carpathian Mountains along with another activist when they stumbled upon the not-so-abandoned den, and bear, the The Telegraph reported.

In the subsequent chase through the forest, one of the activists fell and was mauled by the bear. He was later airlifted to a hospital in serious condition.

Micha Gzowski, a spokesperson for the Polish State Forests, shared photographs of the bear approaching the activist that were captured by a camera set up to monitor the lair.

A mature male European brown bear can weigh up to 500 kilograms and stand taller than two metres.

“Quite an irony of fate — pseudo-ecologists were attacking foresters, mountain rescue and policemen, and now these people are saving their lives,” Gzowski went on to say.

“Will there be a Darwin Award?” Gzowski was referring to a reward for “those who accidentally remove their DNA from our gene pool,” as stated on the equally tongue-in-cheek Darwin Awards website.

Maybe that’s a bit of a callous thing to say, someone did get hurt.

Fotopułapka uchwyciła atak niedźwiedzia na ekoaktywistę. Chciał udowodnić, że gawra jest pusta bo leśnicy zniszczyli jego siedlisko. Niezła ironia losu – pseudoekolodzy szczuli na leśników, GOPR i policjantów, a teraz ci ludzie ratują im życie.

Będzie Nagroda Darwina? pic.twitter.com/ig32fe05Ne

— Michał Gzowski (@GzowskiMichal) November 15, 2023

The Wild Carpathians Initiative, which the activists were part of, said they should not have disturbed the bear preparing for hibernation, despite their concerns about deforestation in the Carpathian Mountains and how it might affect the Polish bear population of about 150.

Greenpeace reported earlier this year that it had tracked 40 trucks filled with timber leaving the region each day on just one road. According to Marek Józefiak, Greenpeace’s environmental policy officer, “only 3% of the forest is protected, while the rest can be logged or built on”.

At least they now know the bear has not been forced to leave its den. Except when it has to chase away intruders.

[source:businessinsider]