“Face to face”: East Kazakhstan residents share encounters with bears

Tengrinews.kz — Bears are increasingly venturing into populated areas in East Kazakhstan. Since the start of the season, specialists have received more than 40 reports of predators appearing near settlements. In some places, residents are afraid to leave their homes after dark, according to Almaty.tv.
For residents of Sharavka, a village on the outskirts of Ridder, bears are no longer rare visitors from the forest. They are spotted almost every evening, and some even during the day. For the second year in a row, the predators have kept local residents on edge, but this summer the situation has become particularly alarming. Sharavka resident Natalya Kopylova once encountered a bear while out on pasture.

“It’s terrifying! Just so you understand, I came face to face with it! Every day I go out here in Sharavka to tend livestock, across the meadows and fields. And I don’t know behind which bush it might be waiting for me,” she said.

Local residents appear to understand why bears are coming closer to homes more often. The animals are short of their usual food in the forest. Spring frosts and a dry summer affected the crop of berries, mushrooms and nuts. Meanwhile, gardens currently offer plenty of food, with apples proving especially attractive to bears. Villagers are finding traces of their visits right on their own properties, the report said.
But raids on gardens and vegetable plots are only part of the problem. Human lives may also be at risk, specialists from the rapid response unit of the forestry and wildlife service warn. They are the ones dispatched after reports of bears entering populated areas.

“There was a case in Ridder where a bear attacked a person. The man was working at an apiary when the bear appeared and attacked him. Fortunately, two people were nearby and helped scare the bear away and pull the man free. Even so, he was hospitalized with numerous injuries and open fractures,” recalled Sergey Karmannikov, deputy head of the forestry and wildlife rapid response unit.

The unit’s task now is to drive the unwanted visitors away and send them back into the forest. Teams use thermal imaging cameras and drones to locate them, the report explained. In just one week, they found 10 bears near Ridder alone.
Over the summer, bears have been reported more than 40 times across the region — in Altai, Serebryansk, the Ulan and Markakol districts, and even in Ust-Kamenogorsk. In especially dangerous cases, inspectors are permitted to shoot the animals.