Sawt Falasteen - Teeth bared in Greece's bear-human showdown

"The bears have surrounded us. They come into the house yards, cause damage, eat the fruit off the trees," the 65-year-old told AFP at his home in Kleisoura, just east of the city of Kastoria.

The population of brown bears in Greece's mountainous Western Macedonia region has grown steadily in past decades due to hunting bans and other conservation efforts.

The 900 bears counted in a 2025 survey by Greek authorities was almost twice the figure of the previous survey six years ago.

There have been increasing complaints from farmers about damaged crops and residents over bear incursions into inhabited areas, sparking angry social media exchanges with those who defend the animals' protected status.

"A few days ago, a bear was roaming here in the village’s central square at dusk. Another animal injured a fellow villager, thankfully only lightly. We’re now afraid to leave our homes," Despas said.

Just in Kastoria prefecture, forestry services received over 300 complaints from citizens reporting bears in residential areas between 2025 and last month.

- 'We are in danger' -

More than 2,000 people in the Kastoria area have joined a Facebook group titled 'Not living with bears'. It shares stories of encounters and pressures state authorities to take action.

"We are in danger," said one group administrators, Dimitris Mitsopoulos. Bears have been photographed outside schools at times when children are inside, he added.

The bears "are in the wrong place. They are wild beasts; they are not pets for us to be able to say that we live together," the 53-year-old graphic designer said.

The showdown became radical in June when three bears were found dead in two days Western Macedonia, according to the leading wildlife groups Arcturos and Kallisto. One was a recently rewilded young female.

Two had gunshot wounds, while the third -- named Circe when she was rescued and nurtured for a year by Arcturos -- apparently ate poisoned bait, the organisation said.

In the town of Grevena further to the south, 48‑year‑old Lefteris Zioutis regularly posts images of intruding bears on social media.

"There are more than 10 bears moving about around our town, frequently entering urban areas," the works contractor and self-styled nature lover told AFP.

"A few days ago, they were wandering near the city’s library and cinema," said Zioutis, who estimates that he has photographed more than 100 different bears since early 2025.

"Because of the increase in the population, people are now very disturbed. Damage is being done to farmers, livestock breeders and beekeepers," he said.

- 'Longstanding issue' -

Iason Bantios, spokesperson for the Callisto wildlife group, said animal damage to crops and livestock "is a longstanding issue".

"We understand the concerns of residents in affected areas, but what we tell them is that, with proper information and preventive and deterrent measures, the phenomenon of bears approaching inhabited areas can be drastically reduced," he said.

"Under no circumstances, however, can this concern serve as a vehicle for promoting views that call for the adoption of lethal and illegal methods against bears, as we recently saw in Western Macedonia," he said.

The Arcturos sanctuary in Nymfaio, 1,350 meters (4,450 feet) up the slopes of Mount Vitsi, about 600 kilometers (375 miles) northwest of Athens, hosts 20 bears.

Originating from Greece and other countries, most were dancing bears in captivity, or animals that lived in zoos. Some were orphaned cubs.

Data shows that bears are recolonising areas from which they had disappeared for decades during the 20th century.

But urbanisation, changing land use and the abandonment of grazing and other traditional farming practises, appear to have significantly reduced available food sources, the wildlife groups noted. The human presence, which in the past acted as a deterrent to bears approaching inhabited areas, has also fallen.

"Greece has done well in the field of protection, as wild animal populations have recovered," said Arcturos director Alexandros Karamanlidis.

"But this success also creates obligations, since we now need to manage the interactions between animals and humans," he said.

"Generations of animals have grown up finding food of high nutritional value more easily near residential areas. We are heading, with mathematical certainty, towards more unpleasant situations," Karamanlidis said.

C.AbuSway--SF-PST