A horrific and, at the same time, infuriating incident occurred in Sklithro, Florina, when unknown assailants killed three bears within the span of a month. One of them was even still nursing her cubs.
What Arcturos is denouncing
As reported by «Arkturos» in a related announcement, on Friday, August 12, very close to the Wolf and Lynx Protection Center, two dead bears were found, and a few weeks ago, another one was found in the wider area, also killed by gunshot.
In fact, the first one was a young adult who was still nursing her cubs, which means that her cubs are now orphans. The bear was spotted by a farmer who alerted Arcturos’ Rapid Response Team. The bear’s death was caused by a bullet to the ribs, which caused an abdominal injury and ultimately led to internal bleeding.
A few hours later, a second murdered bear was found, which had been left near a trash site. The animal is estimated to have been dead for 7–10 days. As reported by «Arcturos» and broadcast by Athens News Agency These two incidents were in addition to a similar one recorded in July, when a bear was found in an advanced state of decomposition, with its death attributed at that time to a gunshot wound. All three incidents occurred in the same area within a one-kilometer radius.
«In total, this is the fourth bear that has been shot in the wider area in 2022. It is worth noting that the incidents occurred within the boundaries Natura site»The organization's statement emphasizes this and calls on the relevant authorities «not to downplay the significance of this crime and to conduct extensive investigations to identify the perpetrators, because continued impunity, unfortunately, to further killings of protected species.».
