Gun-toting Turks declare war on bears
Alarming news from northeastern Turkey where shotgun-wielding beekeepers have declared war on the region’s thriving brown bear population following a spate of honey thefts.
One farmer said he’d had nine hives – each containing around $1,500 worth of honey – destroyed by hungry bears in the past year alone, and 30 in the last five years, according to a report in the BBC’s excellent “Explore” series.
Now the farmers, fearful for their livelihoods, are fighting back with pump action shotguns. “At some point humans have to defend themselves,” one farmer said.
“We’ve had it up to our noses now. If the government doesn’t help us with this or if bear-loving animal-loving organisations don’t help us in the next couple of years there will be a war between us and the bears.”
But amid the carnage of the bloody turf war, a love story lends hope to the ideal of a more harmonious future of man and bear living alongside one another peacefully.
Bushy-bearded conservationist Jamal adopted an orphaned bear cub when it was just one month old and the pair quickly became inseparable, going swimming together, wrestling playfully and making home movies.
But the love affair couldn’t last. A local bear sanctuary found out about the cub and decided he would be better off with them. Jamal has been heartbroken ever since.
“It caused me a lot of pain when they took him away,” he said. “Once you are friends with a bear you find it very difficult making friends with humans.”