Government: State of Emergency Could Be Declared Due to Presence of Bear

Bratislava, April 17 (TASR) - An emergency situation could be declared due to the presence of the brown bear, as in the case of an earthquake or a terrorist attack, and once it is declared, it should be forbidden to create bait sites that could attract large predators, according to the draft amendments to the Nature Protection Act and the Civil Protection Act, which the government approved on Wednesday. The municipality should be obliged to remove existing bait sites in the area with a declared state of emergency. The cabinet also recommends that Parliament should approve the draft via a fast-tracked legislative procedure. "The aim of this obligation is that where there is a causal link between the occurrence of a large predator and bait sites, the destruction of these bait sites will contribute to the return of the big predator to its natural habitat," the Environment Ministry said in the document. If the bait sites aren't the cause of the presence of the bear, the proposal allows for exceptions to be granted to eliminate individuals that pose a potential threat to life, health, and property damage by their presence and behaviour. am/mcs