Conservationist: Bear warning signs causing people to fear nature
Tõnu Talvi, a nature conservation specialist who recently encountered a bear family in the forest, told ERR that humans hold no interest for bears as prey and that meeting one should be seen as a positive experience.
"It was a special feeling. My first thought was how I should behave. At first, I saw a bear cub, who at that very moment also noticed me and started climbing down from a tree about ten meters away. I immediately began to retreat as the cub scratched its way down the pine trunk. Once the cub had run into the forest, I noticed the mother bear about 20 meters away, who seemed more focused on watching her cub," described Tõnu Talvi, senior nature conservation specialist at the Environmental Board, recalling a very unusual encounter that took place ten days ago.
According to national monitoring data at the end of 2024, there are 1,000 bears in Estonia's forests. "Since the breeding season has already passed, it's likely that a couple hundred more bears have been added," he said.
A sign warning about bears has been put up in the forest near Mustjõe, urging people to be cautious and providing tips on how to behave if they encounter a bear. The Environmental Board did not install the sign.
"This reflects a rather regrettable stage of development we have reached, where differing attitudes toward nature create clear polarization or confrontation. That sign is not justified; it resembles more the urbanized and nature-estranged societies, where large predators are usually seen behind fences or are so few in number that each one has its own name and tag. Personally, I would not want Estonian society to ever go that far. It's better if we live side by side, respecting each other, taking interests into account and managing our relationship with nature. Such an approach is too radical and only instills unnecessary fear and unease toward nature in ordinary mushroom- and berry-pickers," Talvi explained.
According to Talvi, bears should not be feared, since they are more afraid of people and humans as enemies or prey hold no interest for them. "Encountering a bear is truly extraordinary and should rather be a source of joy — provided one behaves sensibly and doesn't seek unnecessary closeness with the animal, especially if it has cubs. Ticks are a much greater danger and problem for us than the roughly one thousand bears living in our nature."
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Editor: Marcus Turovski, Annika Remmel
