Man killed by mother bear with her cub in rare attack in Bulgaria

A bear mauled to death a man at Vitosha, a mountainous region just outside the Bulgarian capital of Sofia, authorities said Monday.

The 35-year-old man’s body was found in the area of Vitosha Nature Park on Saturday, and a forensic doctor and a big game expert determined he was killed by a bear, Bulgaria’s interior ministry said in a statement.

“The findings of the medical examiner and a wildlife expert show that marks found on the body are those of a female bear accompanied by her cub,” a Sofia police spokesperson told AFP.

His body was located Saturday afternoon near a road connecting two chalets in the northwestern part of the mountainous area around half an hour by road out of Sofia. Authorities said police would patrol the area, camera traps will be placed and a drone will fly over the perimeter.

Vitosha is a popular hiking destination for residents of the Sofia, being home to a range of wild animals, including deer, roe deer, wild boars and wolves. The area is believed to be home to around 18-20 bears.

The last recorded case of a person killed by a bear in Bulgaria dates back to 2010, in the Rhodope Mountains in the country’s south.

The interior ministry on Monday reminded the public to travel in groups if possible, make noise while moving and avoid leaving food waste behind.

“The brown bear naturally avoids contact with humans,” police said. “The risk of aggressive behavior is possible in the event of a sudden encounter, in the presence of cubs, or when the animal feels threatened.”

While attacks in Bulgaria are rare, bear encounters are common in neighboring Romania.  In 2024, Romania’s parliament approved the culling of almost 500 bears in a bid to control the protected species’ “overpopulation” after a deadly attack on a 19-year-old woman.