Brown bears in Turkey

The brown bear (Ursus arctos) is the largest carnivore in Turkey.  Its present distribution is mainly confined to the intact natural habitats of the Black Sea and Eastern Anatolian regions. Forest fragmentation and direct persecution by humans have resulted in population declines in other regions during the last 50 years. More here

The brown bear (Ursus arctos) is the largest carnivore in Turkey and has been legally protected since 2003. However, increasing levels of conflict between brown bears and humans have been reported for several regions, especially for Artvin in northeastern Turkey. More here

Protecting bears in Turkey is a sweet success

WSPA have stepped in to show the honey farmers a variety of ways to bear-proof their hives such as placing steel sheets around the trunks of tress to stop the bears climbing up.
Before the pilot project – a joint initiative with WSPA member society Doga Dernegi – hundreds of bears were being killed as they searched for farmed honey. These European brown bears are a protected species and there are only around 3,000 still living wild in Turkey.

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