Heaven for European Hunters

A few days after the integration, the European media continuously points the finger at us. This time, the Romanians are advised to benefit from its beauties in order to promote tourism.

Daniel Mihailescu/ AFP PHOTO/ MEDIAFAX SITUATION. Thousands of Germans, French or Italians come to Romania each year to hunt bears, wolves, wild boars and foxes.

A few days after the integration, the European media continuously points the finger at us. This time, the Romanians are advised to benefit from its beauties in order to promote tourism.

La Liberation sees Romania as the "paradise of the European hunters". An occidental diplomat in Bucharest says hunting shouldn’t be a part of tourism. "In our society, hunting is seen as free cruelty actions against animals. It would be pity to see Romania, which has an important touristy potential, become a well-known country for the hunting sessions in here", the anonymous diplomat stated.

DISPROOF. Thousands of Germans, French or Italians come to Romania each year to hunt bears, wolves, wild boars and foxes. Usually, the hunters make it to the front pages of the newspapers. As Liberation says, "two years ago, after a hunting session organized by Ion Tiriac, attended by foreign businessmen and former Romanian PM Adrian Nastase, 185 wild boars have been killed in two days. > read all the national newspapers. >, Tiriac replied, who said he had 600 boars in his reservation, 200 more than it should have been. >, Ion Tiriac added.

Another notorious case took place in 2004, when the Spanish King, Juan Carlos, killed five bears and two boars during one hunting session in Romania.

Unfortunately, only the Romanian media reacted. Each time, the Government sat quietly. No reactions appeared, not even the statements of Brigitte Bardot, who accused the Romanian executive for encouraging the killing of the endangered species. Jacques Chirac even talked with Adrian Nastase about this. Chirac showed his concern for the way things turned in the Romanian hunting tourism, because many species could disappear from the Carpathian Mountains.

Liberation reminds that Romania offered France five bears to populate the Pyrennes, but Paris preferred several Slovenian species. Nobody knows the reason for which France refused us, but "6,700 bears live in Romania at this moment, which is 60% more than the optimum number", as the former Minister of Agriculture, Vasile Lupu, said.

IRRESPONSIBLE ACT. Without contradicting the numbers, the Chancellor of the Ecology University in Bucharest, Mircea Dutu, tries to make a scheme of the real situation, stating that, lately, the behavior of the bears has become more aggressive as far as the people are concerned. "In the past, the bears used to run from the people". On the other hand, after 1989, the lands with woods got back to their owners. This allowed the "people to get inside the bears’ natural habitat". The aggressiveness of the bears can be observed each year in Brasov where several people were attacked by them. "The animals are attracted by the tourists that offer them food. It’s irresponsible!", the professor concludes.