The season was due to start in Estonia this Friday August 1, but NGO Estonian large carnivores (MTÜ Eesti suurkiskjad) contested the relevant order from the Environmental Board (Keskonnaamet). The first-tier Tallinn Administrative Court upheld this complaint and postponed the start date to August 29.

Court spokesperson Maria Joost said: "The court found that the complaint is not clearly without merit and the application requires more thorough substantive assessment. To avoid irreversible consequences – that is, the hunting of bears before a final decision – the court decided to suspend the hunt."

The court has applied a preliminary legal protection on the board's order, meaning between August 1 and 29, bears may not be hunted in Estonia.

The board had found that the original culling quota of 71 bears is justified, arguing the species is doing well, while the growth in their numbers is a conservation success story, said Leelo Kukk, the board's deputy director general for wildlife.

A success story also brings the need to find balance, Kukk noted. According to the board's large carnivore management plan, at least 70 bear dens including cubs should be maintained in Estonia, but based on monitoring done in autumn 2024 by another state agency, the Environmental Agency (Keskkonnaagentuur ), the number of dens was estimated at at least 112.

"Despite the preventive measures so far, bears are continuing to raid beehives and tear apart silage bales. Bears are also increasingly appearing in [human] settlements. This makes moderate and targeted hunting necessary, to avoid significant damage and to prevent direct conflict between people and bears," Kukk noted.

The Tallinn Administrative Court received an application and complaint regarding the Environmental Board's order from the large carnivores NGO, who argue the order contradicts EU species protection regulations.

Headed by Eleri Lopp, the NGO has previously successfully filed objections on culling. Wolf culling season comes in winter, and the start of the last season, set to run from November 1, 2024 to the end of February 2025, was delayed by two months thanks to an appeal by the NGO.

Current brown bear numbers in Estonia are loosely estimated at over 1,100, but this figure does not fully take into account double counting.

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