Bear feeding causes chaos on Romania's Transfăgărășan highway

The spectacular Transfăgărășan highway in Romania, a major tourist attraction, is experiencing significant disruptions due to visitors feeding bears. Tourists frequently stop their vehicles on the roadway, sometimes in dangerous spots or curves, to offer food and take pictures of the wild animals. This behavior creates traffic blockages and hazardous conditions on one of the country's most iconic routes.

Despite clear signage warning against feeding the bears, many travelers ignore the advice. They offer processed foods and bread, which specialists say can be harmful to the animals' health. The bears, accustomed to this interaction, often wait by the roadside for handouts, further exacerbating the problem and increasing the risk of accidents.

One tourist recounted encountering six bears in a single day, all waiting for visitors. The scene involved multiple cars stopped on the road, some with hazard lights on, as people engaged with the animals. This practice not only disrupts traffic flow but also creates a perilous environment, with the potential for accidents involving both the bears and the distracted drivers.

The issue of bears interacting with tourists on the Transfăgărășan has persisted for over four decades. While the highway, built in the 1970s, was initially a strategic road, it has evolved into a major tourist destination. The presence of bears, once a natural aspect of the landscape, has become a persistent, unresolved problem due to human interference.

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I traveled the mountain road from the beginning, from Cârțișoara, to Vidraru Dam and encountered six bears in a single day, all waiting for tourists on the side of the road. Around each bear were several cars stopped on the side of the road or left with hazard lights on directly on the road. People were throwing them food or taking pictures, some from cars, others after getting out. Nobody was in a hurry, but accidents can happen due to both the bears and those who simply stop on the road, sometimes in dangerous curves, to see the animals.