She-bear with offspring "went shopping" to the center of Kastoria

An unprecedented situation occurred on the night of August 10, when an emergency response team from the Kastoria police was called, in connection with the appearance of a bear with her two children in the city’s shopping center.

Around midnight, local residents reported to the police and representatives of environmental organizations that “a bear with two cubs was walking in the lakeside area of ​​​​the city, just 500 meters from the city hall, in the” heart “of the new shopping center.

“When I arrived at the place, I saw a bear with her cubs on the shore of the lake, in front of the shopping center. The animals, especially the mother, were clearly stressed by the presence of small children and the people gathered around them,” said Nikos Panagiotopoulos, a member of the emergency response team dealing with similar incidents when wild animals come to cities.

The first thing that was done was to remove people (at least 100 meters) from the scene and, as a precautionary measure, blocked the territory.

With the help of sound means such as horns, firecrackers and shots in the air with special pistols that specialists have for this purpose, Nikos Panagiotopoulos and Vassilis Girkas from the Kastoria Forest Service began to drive the animals out of the city, pushing them towards the forest.

At the same time, with the help of the police, who had previously cordoned off the territory, a corridor was opened from the place where the she-bear with her cubs was to the exit from the city. It was about 2 am when the bear with her offspring was finally taken out of the city into the countryside of Kastoria, after the operation, which lasted about 2.5 hours.

Nikos Panagiotopoulos speaks of the decisive contribution of the police officers, who throughout the operation were on “alert” and in cooperation with environmental authorities.

Recall that a week ago, during the next special operation of the environmental organization “Callisto” and the immediate response group, Platonis, a male bear, was identified, who swam across the lake in search of food on the Kastoria peninsula.

During the summer season, bears are on the move – both in search of food and the spatial environment they would like to preserve as a habitat.

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