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🇱🇹 Lithuania /Environment & Climate

A Bear Puts a Chill on Mushroom-Picking Season

From Delfi · () Lithuanian

Translated from Lithuanian and summarized by DistantNews. Read the original for the full story.

At a glance

In-depth Named sources Context piece
  • Hunters warned residents of Jotainiai after a large brown bear appeared near the village late one evening.
  • The bear was also linked to tracks found near Alančiai, while local officials said bears have been repeatedly seen in the region since 2024.
  • Hunters believe the animal may stay in the area for a while but is unlikely to spend the winter there because logging has degraded the forests.

A large brown bear has put a scare into mushroom pickers near Jotainiai, where hunters warned residents after the animal appeared in a nearby forest.

He was already getting ready to go home and was walking toward the car when the bear appeared. The hunter quickly ran back to the tower. He waited there for a good hour until the bear trudged away.

· Eimantas ČeponisHe described the encounter between a hunter and the bear near Jotainiai.

Eimantas Čeponis, head of the Jotainiai agricultural company and a board member of the Tauras hunting group, said the bear emerged at about 10 p.m. on Wednesday. A hunter initially thought a wild boar was approaching. When he realized it was a bear, he hurried back to his hunting tower and waited there for about an hour until the animal moved away.

The bear had apparently wandered toward a feeding station. After seeing the hunter, it ran into the forest, then later returned to the edge of the woods and appeared to search for food along a field. Čeponis said it was a large animal and was probably male. Because the forest lies only about two kilometers from the village and is popular with mushroom pickers, residents were urged to be cautious if they hear branches cracking.

It was a large bear. We suspect it was a male.

· Eimantas ČeponisHe described the animal seen near the forest edge.

Čeponis later examined tracks in the forest but did not want to go far inside. He said the bear also appeared to avoid people. Tracks believed to belong to the same animal were found several weeks ago in fields near Alančiai, and residents there were also warned.

Our forests are very poor. There is constant logging, and bears do not like that.

· Eimantas ČeponisHe explained why he doubts the bear will remain through the winter.

Čeponis doubts the bear will settle in the area or spend the winter there because the forests are subject to constant logging. Bears have been seen in the wider region since 2024, including near Šilai, Levaniškiai, Baleliai and another village in Anykščiai district. Rimantas Misevičius of the Panevėžys Hunters and Anglers Association said bears have returned to Lithuania after about 150 years and that the country may now have roughly 10 to 15 bears.

There is nothing surprising about it. Bears definitely live in Lithuania now. They have returned after 150 years. There are not many, but Lithuania may already have around 10 to 15 bears.

· Rimantas MisevičiusHe assessed the recent return and growing presence of bears in Lithuania.
About this summary

Originally published by Delfi in Lithuanian. Translated, summarized, and contextualized automatically by DistantNews, with a note on how the source frames the story. Not individually reviewed before publishing. How this works.

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