In 1972 Nicolae Ceausescu, dictator of Romania, granted himself the only right to hunt, due to a drastic decrease in the Romanian bear population. He also ordered that cattle cadavers or other dead animals were dumped in the forest to revive the population of bears. When Nicolae Ceausescu was executed in 1989, most of his laws against hunting remained active. Which means that Romania by now has the largest population of bears in Europe. While other countries take desperate measures to bring back one of Europe’s largest mammals in protected areas, Romanians suffer the consequence from Ceausescu his “aid”.
A 2014 census showed that there are around 6,000 and 6,400 bears roaming the Romanian forests, and this number hasn’t declined since then. The Romanian Environment Ministry had opted for a debate to make a plan of action for the conservation of bears in Romania. Further investigations shows that an optimal population, that is sustainable from an ecological, social and economic point of view is around 4,000 bears. Which means killing 2,000 in a span of 10 years.
The natural carrying capacity for the bears is to low, so especially in autumn numerous villages and even bigger towns are raided. On this camping in Valea Cerbului near Bucegi National Park, the holidaymakers make the most out of the dangerous situation. The trash cans are purposely placed outside the protective fences and filled everyday with excessive amounts of trash. Stray dogs gather around the bins to profit from the leftovers from the bears, also making the stray dog problem in Romania, that already has the biggest stray dog popualtion of Europe, even bigger. Also, the bears get more used to the Romanians enjoying the quiet nature, with more problems on the horizon.
A calm morning, quite and peaceful, is disguising what happened the night before. Only to be revealed by the raided bins and trash that can be found everywhere. I common scene in Valea Cerbului. The people who reside here all summer round are used to it. During the day the bins will be returned to their place, filled with trash and the grass will be picked clean, all to do it again the next day.
As the sun sets behind the mountains of Bucegi, disquiet can be felt in the valley of Valea Cerbului. The dogs gather around the bins. The parents bark restlessly to the forest, while the pups play. Everybody is settling in for a long night, and the dogs wait until dinner is served.
The bears get better and better in raiding bins. They used to tip over de bins, but now they climb in and get what they need. Which is unfortunate for the stray dogs, since they depend mostly on the contents from the bins.
The soft mud reveals a female bear sneaking through the campground. Further up, signs of the cubs were also found. This mother is a familiar face in Valea Cerbului and has many names. People return every year to see her again.
A midnight snack, trash is becoming a main source to sustain the daily calorie intake. The cubs learn to use human resources if food is scarce. They will grow up always knowing were to get an easy meal.
Long after dark the bears can be found scrolling through villages. This mother bear is known for her fixed routine. She will enter camp from the south-west. Where she will visit a trash can, then she will return to the forest. Half an hour later, she will cross the river on the west side to further proceed directly through camp, to visit a bin on the east side.