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Slovakia’s government has approved plans to sell meat from brown bears, a protected species in the EU, after authorising the culling of about a quarter of the country’s 1,300 bears last month. The move has sparked criticism from conservation groups and opposition politicians.
The brown bear is listed as a "near threatened" species in the EU by the World Conservation Union. However, Slovakia's government is forging ahead with the plan and this week announced that meat from culled bears would be sold to the public to prevent waste.
From next week, organisations under the environment ministry can offer the meat for sale, provided all legal and hygiene conditions are met.
State Minister Filip Kuffa said it was wasteful that the animals had previously been sent to carcass disposal facilities.
"We will release every shot animal that meets certain conditions for consumption. Why? Because bear meat is edible," he said.
Bears have become a political issue in Slovakia after a rising number of encounters with humans, including fatal attacks.
Slovakia ranks second in Europe, behind Romania which is estimated to have about 13,000 brown bears, for the number of attacks. The country reported a total of 54 bear attacks from 2000-2020. The average number of attacks has also risen to 10 per year, rough figures suggest.
Brown bears are strictly protected under EU directives, and may only be killed in exceptional cases - such as threats to public safety - when no other alternatives exist.
Bear meat is not commonly eaten in Europe and is considered a delicacy only in a few regions, such as parts of Eastern Europe and the Nordic countries. Where bear meat is consumed, health officials warn of the risk of Trichinella - a parasite that can cause serious illness in humans.
The European Union Food Safety regulation requires all bear meat to be tested for Trichinella larvae before it can be sold and the US' Centre for Disease Control Prevention stipulates an internally cooked temperature of at least 70 degrees centigrade to kill the parasite.
