The giant bear Arthur, shot by an Austrian prince in a protected natural area in Ojdula, Covasna

NGOs offer the Environment Ministry solutions to end trophy hunting

Bucharest, 5 May 2021 – Agent Green and VGT (Austria) condemn the killing of the brown bear Arthur by trophy hunter Prince Emanuel von und zu Liechtenstein, who came to Romania in March to shoot him.

Prince Emanuel von und zu Liechtenstein, a resident of Riegersburg in the Austrian region of Styria, based his killing of the largest bear on a derogation issued by Romania’s Environment Ministry for removing a female bear with cubs that was said to have damaged some farms in Ojdula, Covasna County, last year. In reality, however, the Prince did not kill the problem bear but a male that lived deep in the forest and had never approached settlements. Arthur had been observed for several years by Agent Green’s ranger in the area and was known as a wild bear unaccustomed to human presence and the food sources humans provide. His habitat was the Natura 2000 protected area Oituz-Ojdula ROSCI0130.

Footage from Riegersburg, Austria, for free distribution:

“Arthur was 17 years old and was the largest bear we had observed in Romania. Measurements of the body indicate that Arthur scored 593 CIC points. We have never heard of such a record score before among bears that are alive. I wonder how the Prince could confuse a female with cubs that comes into the village with the largest male living deep in the forest. It is clear that the Prince did not come to solve the local people’s problem but to kill the bear and take home the largest trophy to hang on his wall. We are dealing with a poaching hunt, since they shot the wrong bear,” said Gabriel Paun, president of Agent Green.

Arthur the bear

Arthur the bear

Trophy score calculation

Arthur shot dead

“The bear faces multiple threats that endanger its survival: habitat degradation, climate change and persecution by humans. The Environment Ministry must address the causes that led to human-bear conflict, not the effects. Removing large males disrupts the population’s structure and can lead to inbreeding. The actual number of bears is unknown, and any derogation quota granted is dangerous. Trophy hunting must be outlawed. Otherwise, conflicts will increase and the species will be at risk of extinction, as has happened in most of Europe,” said Ann-Kathrin Freude, campaigns coordinator at VGT (Verein Gegen Tierfabriken), an animal rights organisation in Austria. “It is a disgrace for Austria that Prince Emanuel abused a derogation to kill this magnificent bear just to tick off another kill on his trophy list.”

The brown bear is a species strictly protected by EU legislation and the Bern Convention. Derogations are exceptions granted in extreme cases on a case-by-case basis after a thorough assessment of the situation, and the lethal method is the last resort when alternatives (including relocation) have failed and the problem bear endangers human lives and households. The European Commission has approved funding for Member States to compensate immediately and fairly any farmer who suffers damage on their own land or in areas where they have a contract to farm.

On 28 April 2021, Agent Green spoke with the mayor of Ojdula and visited several households in the village. “We spoke to local residents who reported attacks by the female bear, including Mr Berszan Gheorghe, who asked the Botos Hunting Association in January 2021 to shoot the female bear that caused damage to his property in the summer of 2020. Both Mr Gheorghe and other villagers have their homes on the village outskirts, directly adjoining the bear’s habitat. None has an electric fence. In fact, none has any kind of fence on the forest side. None has received compensation for the damage suffered. None complained about a male bear, but about females with cubs. Every farmer we spoke to said that nothing had changed since the male bear was shot and that the female continues to visit their households daily. The households do not have dogs of special breeds that drive bears away and do not implement any measures for coexistence and coadaptation. We asked Mr Gheorghe to read his own complaint to the hunting association, but he was unable to do so. Arthur’s killing is extremely suspicious, and it is for the police to shed light on this case,” Păun added.

Mr Berszan Gheorghe’s complaint

Berszan Gheorghe and his household in Ojdula, without protection against bears

A household in Ojdula, Covasna County, directly adjoining bear habitat, owner Reman Zoltan

Discussion with the mayor of Ojdula

Romania has consistently breached EU legislation in this field since joining the EU by setting harvest and derogation quotas without ever implementing coexistence and coadaptation measures. Above all, Romania has never measured its bear population using scientific methods that include DNA samples. Measurements so far have relied only on direct observations by representatives of hunting grounds. Such a methodology allowed the same bear to be counted multiple times in a single day, and consequently it has never been known how many bears were in Romania. In Arthur’s case, the bear may have travelled hundreds of kilometres between last summer, when farmer Berszan Gheorghe reported that a female bear had allegedly caused damage, and January, when he decided to ask the hunting association to shoot the animal. All the subsequent documentation needed to apparently legalise the Prince’s hunt was prepared in great haste.

“Romania is privileged to have been able to provide habitat for this emblematic species at the top of the temperate climate zone’s food pyramid. An ambitious national plan is needed that addresses the threats to the species and invests in coexistence and coadaptation measures. The country will then be able to promote itself as Europe’s biodiversity capital. Its ecotourism potential remains unmatched,” added Păun, a specialist in ecology and ecotourism.

“Some firmer measures are also needed. When the lethal solution is the only one left, a gendarme and an environmental commissioner should also be present. Shooting should be avoided, prioritising tranquillisation followed by euthanasia. To put an end to trophy hunting, all dead bears will have to be cremated after DNA samples have been taken. The same was done with elephant ivory to save that species,” Păun concluded.

Press contacts:

Ann-Kathrin FREUDE, VGT (Verein Gegen Tierfabriken), +436801199362, ann-kathrin.freude@vgt.at

Gabriel PAUN, Agent Green, President, office@agentgreen.org