The woman was on a solo hike in the Chiemgau Alps, Germany when she was confronted by a brown bear – despite there being no breeding population in the area for nearly two centuries
A woman has described the terrifying moment she came face-to-face with a bear while out on a hike – despite being in an area with no breeding population in over 175 years.
The hiker was out on a solo walk in the Chiemgau Alps, Germany when she was confronted by the deadly animal in broad daylight.
On the day of the unnerving encounter, the woman – who has not been named – said she noticed an unusual noise in the near distance, before hearing a panicked squawk from a crow. She then turned around to find an adult brown bear standing upright, looking directly at her.
She told Radio Charivari: “A crow squawked really loudly, and then I looked around and saw a bear standing upright about 200 metres away. And then I ran.”
“At that moment, I really only had this urge to flee”, she said, adding that she did not stop to take a photo.
Brown bears have been making a comeback in the Alps over recent years following centuries of declining numbers. Breeding populations are largely centred around the Central Alps in Italy, as the border with Austria and Slovenia.
Others are believed to roam across from the established Dinaric-Balkan population in the Balkans, which numbers around approximately 4,000 bears.
But sightings as far north as the Chiemgau Alps are much rarer, with no evidence of any breeding population in the area since at least 1835.
In 2006, ‘Bruno the bear’ became a sensation in Germany after spending seven weeks roaming the Bavarian countryside, with multiple attempts to stun and capture him proving unsuccessful.
He was eventually shot in a field near the town of Zell in southern Germany after authorities gave permission for him to be destroyed for reasons of public safety.
There have been no sightings of wild bears in Britain in nearly 600 years, with the last one recorded in the 1430s in Scotland and the 1240s in England.
But in other parts of the world, bear attacks pose a very real threat, especially in rural areas where human settlements and bear habitats overlap. Only yesterday, 11 people were injured and two left fighting for their lives after a grizzly bear attacked a group of primary school children and teachers in Bella Coola, British Columbia, Canada.
One mum, Veronica Schooner, said her 10-year-old son Alvarez was in the Year 4-5 class that was attacked while on a walk and was so close to the animal “he even felt its fur.” Reports said a male teacher bravely tried to stop the bear but suffered serious injuries, and was taken away in an ambulance.
