Dorożała: monitoring bears in the Cisna commune is a matter of a few weeks

In August, bears in the Cisna commune should be fitted with collars that will allow for monitoring, Deputy Minister of Climate and Environment Mikołaj Dorożała announced on Monday. He added that this is only a matter of weeks.

During a press conference, Dorożała was asked about the bear issue in the Cisna commune. The General Directorate for Environmental Protection (GDDKiA) had issued a permit for their culling, but at the request of the commune's mayor, it was withdrawn. The Ministry of Climate announced that the bears would be monitored.

The Deputy Minister emphasized that training will also be conducted on how to monitor and track bears until they begin hibernation. He assured that police will increase patrols in the area, special shifts will be established, and experts from the Tatra National Park will train State Forests employees in the surrounding forest districts.

"A team from the Tatra National Park is going to the site in August. They need to spend some time there to find and identify the bears. But August is the month when this should happen (putting collars on the bears – PAP); it's probably just a matter of time, a few weeks," said the deputy minister.

The minister also assured that funding has been secured for the program, which includes an educational campaign and support for securing landfills that attract bears. The program is scheduled to launch next spring.

- There will be no culling - this is the most important decision - stressed Dorożała.

The General Directorate for Environmental Protection issued permission to cull the three bears on July 7th of this year. The decision was made at the request of the mayor of Cisna. At the time, the justification was based on the failure of previous attempts to deter and capture the bears, which had repeatedly approached human habitation and used available food sources.

The decision was opposed by activists, including those from the "Wild Carpathians Initiative," who protested for several hours at the Cisna commune office on July 9th. On July 11th, Dorożała proposed relocating the bears to the Tatra National Park, a move criticized by Dr. Robert Maślak, a member of the State Council for Nature Conservation, among others. Ultimately, the decision was made to monitor these individuals, and the cull request was withdrawn.

The brown bear is protected and is one of the most dangerous species to humans. According to the General Directorate for Environmental Protection (GDOŚ), two bear attacks on humans were recorded in the Podkarpacie region in 2023, and one such case in 2025. Such incidents most often occur in forested areas when a human surprises a bear or gets too close to its den. (PAP)

jls/ malk/

The PAP Foundation permits free reprinting of articles from the Nauka w Polsce website, provided that you notify us by email once a month of your use of the website and cite the source of the article. On portals and websites, please include the linked address: Source: naukawpolsce.pl, and in journals, please include the annotation: Source: Nauka w Polsce website - naukawpolsce.pl. This permission does not apply to information in the "World" category or any photographs or video materials.